


Rewrite Reincarnation

by ElegantSoul



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fix-It, Gen, New Troubles, The Void, new pet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-02 17:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 56,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8675503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantSoul/pseuds/ElegantSoul
Summary: Meet Todd Beale-Grant. He's 13, loves to write and skateboard. Recently he now has a voice in his head calling himself Duke Crocker.





	1. A Story about a Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Hi. Well, like many Haven fans, I was upset they gave Duke that ending, so like any other writer, I going to do it my way.
> 
> Thanks to TRDowden1 for helping me with this story!
> 
> I do not own the characters of Haven, the people who created them do. I only own the characters I created.
> 
> Like episodes of Haven, chapters will contain Stephen King references.
> 
> You know, I really do think they could have easily defeated Croatoan by just stealing his toupee.

Rewrite Reincarnation

Ch. 1: A Story about a Boy

_. . . He loved the ocean . . ._

_. . . He found out his terrible burden . . ._

_. . . He ran after her . . ._

_. . . He found love . . ._

_. . . He was a catalyst . . ._

Todd Beale-Grant woke up, trying to recall his dream. Days ago, he started having dreams of a man, who lived on the ocean, and those dreams had been happening ever single night since then. Todd didn't mind them though; he liked to write about his dreams and make them into stories, and writing was one of his favorite hobbies.

After Todd got up and dressed, he headed for the kitchen to find his mom and dad already there.

"Morning, Todd," his dad, Patton, greeted.

"Morning, sweetie," his mom, Ida, said. "Are eggs okay for breakfast?"

Todd nodded and got himself some milk as Ida cooked and Patton read the newspaper. As Todd waited for breakfast, he got a text from one of his friends.

"Hey, Mom, Samiir says his mom is cool on having us meet at his house for a study group," Todd said, looking up from his phone.

"How long will it be?" Ida asked. "I was planning on shopping this afternoon."

"And I still have that meeting," Patton added.

"Samiir doesn't live far from us; I can skate home," Todd said, quickly glancing at his skateboard.

"Okay, just be careful," Ida said.

"Mom . . ."

"I won't be doing a job as a mother if I don't fuss and worry," Ida said.

"Ever when I'm 30?" Todd asked, then he got an idea and immediately got out his notebook and jotted it down.

"Even when—" Ida said as she turned around to serve everyone breakfast, but saw Todd writing. "Todd, I told you: no writing during meals."

"Sorry," Todd apologized as he put away his notebook while Ida put down the plates and they began to eat.

"So . . . Todd," Patton said. "Are you having more of those dreams about . . . who again?"

"Dirk the pirate," Todd said after he ate. "Yeah . . . the dreams are weird, but . . . I have fun writing about them…"

"Did, uh, Dirk and his friends able to help his mystic friend?" Ida asked.

"Yeah, Agnes remembers who she is now," Todd said. His Mom seemed to be the only one in their house who was interested in his stories. "So Noel is really happy."

"Well, that's good," Ida said and drank her coffee. "It's too bad Dirk doesn't have a girlfriend like Noel."

"He will soon," Todd said. "Her name is Jewel, she's a good witch."

"That sounds nice," Ida said and the family continued eating.

When breakfast and dishes were done, Todd left to brush his teeth. He then remembered he forgot to pack his favorite notebook. He went to his room and found the right one, the one with photos of foxes on the cover. He was just about to place it in his backpack, when he overheard his parents talking.

"You really think he should see a doctor?" Patton asked. Todd hid himself behind a wall.

"It's been almost a month of the same dreams," Ida said. "I've never heard of anything like that."

"That's because we're not doctors," Patton said, and Ida softly chuckled. "Look, we'll make some calls before we make an appointment."

"Okay. I hope someone heard something like this before," Ida said. "What if it's some unusual form of trauma caused by—"

"Ida, please relax," Patton said.

Todd sighed. Patton and Ida weren't truly his parents, they were his adopted parents. One might not think that when first meeting the Grants, however on closer inspection it became clear because Todd's hair and eyes were a darker shade of brown than the adults; almost black. His birth parents died during an armed robbery when he was three, and he survived the shootout, even though he had no memory of the event. Later that year, the Grants adopted him and raised him as their own, and even incorporated his last name into theirs. They told him the truth when they felt he was ready, and he loved the Grants, like they were his real parents. The Grants were good parents, firm, but full of love. However, he had overheard Ida worry about that the trauma would somehow manifest later in Todd's life and how it might affect him. Todd felt fine, but deep down, he was worried that Ida might be right.

Ida calling for him broke Todd from his thoughts, and he got ready for school.

* * *

During lunch, Todd read his latest tale of Dirk the pirate to his friends: Samiir, Dominic, and Bridget.

"So what do you think?" Todd asked when he was done.

"I like it," Bridget said, smiling.

"Thanks," Todd said, smiling back, trying to hide his blush.

"So what happens next?" Dominic asked. "Does the wizard, Willard, return?"

"Dude, there's no way he can come back! He's stuck in the Abyss!" Samiir said.

"Well . . . I haven't gotten that far . . . yet . . ." Todd said. The truth is that his dreams did show him what happened next, but the dreams had become . . . really confusing . . . and he didn't know how to write about them . . . but still, somehow he was going to write about where Dirk and Noel switched bodies.

"I think Dirk and Jewel should go on a trip, sailing around the world," Bridget said, then smiled again. "Maybe they can meet merepeople!"

"Well, Dirk did . . . kind of . . ." Todd said.

"No, I mean _real_ merepeople," Bridget said, still smiling. "You know, with fins."

"Oh, yeah . . . that does sound like a good idea . . . I'll make a note," Todd said and wrote it down.

"I have to get ready for class; see you after school!" Bridget said as she got up and walked across the courtyard. Todd watched her leave.

"So . . . when are you going to tell her?" Dominic asked, getting Todd's attention.

"Tell who what?" Todd asked, confused.

"Tell Bridget that you like her," Dominic said, smirking and Samiir joined him.

"When you tell your crushes how you feel," Todd shot back, then looked back at Bridget again. He had to admit she was pretty, with her brown hair that went passed her shoulders, her brown eyes full of energy, and how she looked when her cheeks turned pinked against her fair skin when she laughed, but it was more than that. Bridget was confident and wasn't afraid to speak her mind and he found that . . . cool.

"How about you ask her to the Harvest Moon Dance?" Samiir suggested, making Todd look at him.

"And have you two laugh at me dancing? No thanks!" Todd answered. "Besides, if she liked me, she would ask me out already."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," Samiir said. "I was just thinking you should ask her out before Caesar does."

Todd then noticed Bridget was stopped by Caesar Scanlon. Caesar wasn't a bully, he was just . . . really annoying and obnoxious. Caesar had the ego the same size of the Roman Emperor he was named after. He reminded Todd of rich snobs who robbed people of their life savings.

"Bridget would never date him," Todd said, smiling to himself when he saw Bridget turn Caesar down.

"She may change her mind," Dominic said.

"Whatever," Todd responded and the bell rang, and the boys left to their classes.

* * *

After school, Todd and his friends meet at Samiir's house to study and he was glad no one brought up the Harvest Moon Dance again. As he skated home, he stopped at Mr. Tremayne's house, when he saw it toileted papered, and helped him clean up. When he got home, Todd finished his homework, had dinner and dessert, then got ready for bed. Then the dreams began . . .

_. . . He was being used, he begged them to end him . . . his wish was granted . . . the last thing he saw was a maze-like pattern in a spiral . . ._

Todd sat up in bed as he woke up panting. _That_ was definably bizarre . . .

' _Where am I?'_

Todd froze; the voice . . . he heard in his head?

' _What's wrong with my body?'_

Todd's eyes grew wide. Were his parents right: the trauma was now affecting him to the point that he was hearing voices? He was so worried, Todd wasn't even aware that his body got up and began walking around. When Todd finally noticed, he tried to stop his body, but he couldn't. Great, now he's suffering from a weird form of sleepwalking as well.

' _Got to . . . find out . . . where I am . . .'_

"Um, voice inside my head? Could you please leave me alone? You can come back when I graduate from college," Todd asked in a soft voice, trying not to wake his parents, as his body entered the bathroom.

' _Who is this? Wait, why did you call me—'_ the voice stopped when Todd turned on the light and saw his reflection.

Only it wasn't his reflection staring back at him; it was a grown man. He was tall and slim with a muscular build and had short dark hair and brown eyes with a Roman nose and a goatee.

Todd's response was to scream as he backed up until he tripped and landed on the floor.

 


	2. Me and the KId

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Thanks to TRDowden1 for all the help and assistance! You’re wonderful! 
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains violent and slightly disturbing scenes.

Ch. 2: Me and the Kid

_‘Okay . . . kid . . . just try to calm down,’_ Duke said.  _‘We need to talk.’_

Todd just panted, trying to catch his breath.

_‘Come on, relax . . . breathe . . . in . . . out . . . relax . . . there . . . that means the other shoulder as well . . .’_ Duke said as he tried to calm himself down as well.  The last thing he could have imagined was being stuck in a kid’s body as some form of the afterlife.  Duke could even _feel_ the kid’s emotions and everything about this body, see through his eyes and somehow he could control the body sometimes.  He wanted to figure this out, but that means he needed the kid’s corporation as well.  _‘Okay . . . let’s go back to introductions . . . I’m Duke Crocker, and you are . . .?’_

“Todd, sweetie, are you okay?” Ida asked as she came into the bathroom, turning on the lights, to see Todd sitting on the floor, looking completely terrified.   She immediately rushed to his side.  “Todd, what happened?”

“Re-re-reflection . . .” Todd managed to get out of his mouth, indicating the mirror.

Ida helped Todd back up to his feet and they looked at the mirror.  Todd could see the man . . . Duke; when Duke looked at the mirror, he could see Todd’s reflection, but not his own.

“What is it?” Ida asked, concerned.

“Th-th-th-that,” Todd mumbled, indicating Duke’s reflection.

“What are you seeing?” Ida asked, even more concerned, and Duke understood.

_‘She can’t see me,’_ Duke told Todd before he could even speak and he felt Todd panicking.  _‘Look . . . Todd . . . we need to talk . . . in private . . . so, can you tell your mom you need to be alone or something?  Todd?  Todd?  Can you say something?  Can you hear me?’_

“Can you hear me?” Todd . . . no, Duke said in Todd’s voice, surprising both of them.

“Yes, I can hear you,” Ida said, starting to get worried, as she looked at Todd.  “What’s wrong, Todd?”

_‘Looks like I’m in charge of the show now,’_ Duke thought, and did what he did best: thinking fast on his feet.

“I . . . had a nightmare,” Duke said in Todd’s voice.  “When I woke up . . . I wanted a glass of water, and I thought I saw my nightmare in the mirror because the lights were off.  I then tripped on the rug.”

“What was your nightmare, Todd?” Ida asked, really concerned.

Duke could feel Todd trying to regain control, but Duke held him back, feeling awful restraining a kid, even mentally.

“I was being controlled by a . . . monster and he made me do horrible things,” Duke said.  “I couldn’t free myself, so my friends had to stop me . . . by killing me.”

“Oh, honey,” Ida said, and brought Todd into a hug.  “I’m sorry you had that nightmare; you know your friends will never do that.”

Duke wasn’t paying attention to Ida’s words, instead, he indulged himself in the feeling being hugged by a mom who truly cared and loved her son; something he never experience in real life.

“Todd, there’s something your father and I need to talk to you about—“ Ida began after their hug.

“Um, can we talk about this in the morning?  I just want to get my water and go back to sleep,” Duke said.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Ida said, and combed her fingers through Todd’s hair.  “Just . .  . please . . . let me know if you have any more nightmares like that, okay?”

Duke nodded and Ida kissed the top of Todd’s head before she left.  Duke then released Todd who stared at Duke’s reflection in the mirror.

“What are you?” Todd whispered.  “Are you an alternate personality?”

_‘Okay . . . maybe introductions are going to be a lot harder than I thought,’_ Duke said, looking at Todd.  _‘Maybe you can help me . . . what’s your last name?’_

“Beale-Grant,” Todd whispered, hoping he hadn’t woken up his parents again and Duke could sense that.

_‘Look . . . try speaking to me with your mind,’_ Duke said.

“How do I do that?”

_‘Try thinking something at me.’_

_‘Like this?’_

_‘Good!  Great!’_ Duke said.  _‘Let’s go back to your room to continue this conversation.  You don’t want your parents check on you and see that you’re not there, right?’_

_‘Can I get some water first?  My throat hurts from screaming.’_

_‘Sure.’_

Once Todd got his water and turned off the bathroom lights, he walked back into his room.  He then sat on his bed, still reeling from seeing Duke.

_‘What city do you live in, Todd?’_  Duke asked.

_‘Delain,’_ Todd answered.

_‘Delain . . . that’s 20 miles from Haven,’_ Duke thought out loud.  _‘At least I’m still in Maine.’_

_‘Look, I don’t want you here!  Just leave!’_ Todd said.

_‘I wish I could, kid, but I’m afraid I can’t,’_ Duke said.  _‘I’m stuck in your body.’_

_‘I am not a kid!  I’m 13!’_ Todd said.  _‘Why shouldn’t I tell Mom about you now?’_

_‘You want proof that I’m not an alternate personality?  Can you give me 24 hours to prove it to you?’_ Duke said.  _’24 hours, that’s all I ask.  If you still don’t believe me afterwards, tell your parents about me.’_

That . . . actually sounded reasonable for a voice in his head and Todd agreed.

_‘Good,’_ Duke said and looked around the room.  _‘Do you have a laptop in here?  I need you to send an e-mail.’_

_‘I can do that on my phone,’_ Todd said as he picked up his phone from the nearby nightstand.  _‘Why do you want me to write an e-mail?’_

_‘You wanted proof that I’m not a voice in your head, this is how,’_ Duke said.  _‘I’m going to tell you what to write and who to send it to.’_

Once Todd had finished typing up the e-mail, both Duke and he looked over it:

Dear Dr. Verrano:

I know you don't know me, but I want to ask you a question about someone that I've been talking to. See, the problem is, the person I've been talking is actually just a voice in my head.  He says that he is a real person, or he was, but he died, and I know I sound crazy, but he says to tell you that he kept that Appleton Estate rum under the Gull's bar just for you, that the rum that said it was Appleton Estate on the bar-back was really the cheap stuff, he just refilled the bottle.  He also said to tell you that the brownies were good but were kind of on the dry side and maybe check for seeds a little better, whatever that means.  And that he's sorry that he said those awful things to you at the police station...and that you had to be there for what happened to him.

You can e-mail me back, but please don't tell me I'm crazy.

Sincerely,

Todd Beale-Grant

_‘That’s good ki . . . Todd,’_ Duke said.  _‘You can send it now.’_

After Todd placed back his phone, Duke could feel Todd’s body getting tried.

_‘You should try to go back to sleep,’_ Duke said.

_‘I don’t think I can,’_ Todd said.

_“Let me help you, first lie down,’_ Duke said and Todd followed Duke’s instruction.  _‘Good, okay, concentrate on the way you breathe . . .’_

Duke felt Todd’s presence slowly fading and soon the boy was asleep.  He realized he too felt tired; he didn’t actually feel sleepy, but rather worn out, and soon, he felt himself drifting into unconsciousness.                        

* * *

 

Both Todd and Duke were awakened by Ida the next morning.  While Todd was busy getting himself ready for school, Duke experimented with their situation.  He found out he could close himself off from Todd’s senses, but still be aware of everything, which Duke considered a good thing because he didn’t want to experience _everything_ Todd was doing. 

When Todd reached the kitchen, his parents were already sitting down at the table.

“Sit down, Todd,” Patton said in a kind voice.  “We need to talk.”

_‘Let me do the talking,’_ Todd said to Duke.   _‘I know what they’re going to say.’_

_‘Okay, but just let me know if you need me,’_ Duke said.

Todd mentally nodded back as he sat down.

“Todd, ever since we adopted you, we were worried—“ Ida began.

“--That the shootout will cause some mental trauma for me in the future?” Todd said as Duke listened on, interested.  “You’re not very good at keeping a secret, Mom.”

“Then you know we are worried about the incident that happened last night,” Patton said and sighed.  “Todd, we’re going to call a doctor for help; don’t fight us on this.”

“I won’t,” Todd said, sounding like he was reluctantly agreeing, and he felt Duke’s confusion.  ‘ _What did you want me to do?  Fight them and make them believe that I’m hiding something else?’_

Todd felt Duke smile at him, impressed.

“Well, I’m glad that’s over with,” Ida said and got up from the table.  “I’ll go make us some French toast.”                                                         

* * *

 

Gloria sat there at her computer, torn between fury and tears.  It _could_ be a cruel prank; but how would this Todd Beale-Grant know such intimate things about Duke’s relationship with her?

Dwight put his head in.

"Hey, are we still on for lun -- what's the matter?" he asked, seeing her expression.

"I just got a very strange e-mail from a young man named Todd Beale-Grant," Gloria began. "He claims that he's hearing a voice in his head."

"Sounds like you should refer him to the Freddy," Dwight answered.

"It's _whose_ voice he's hearing," Gloria replied.

"Who's he hearing?  Napoleon Bonaparte?"

"Duke Crocker."

Dwight stared. "Duke?  That's a pretty cruel trick to be playing," he grumbled.

"I'm not sure it _is_ a joke, Dwight," Gloria replied. "Read the e-mail."

Dwight scanned over the e-mail, his face concerned.

"That's a lot of personal information," he noted.

"Information that only Duke and I would know," Gloria stated.

"So -- what are you going to do?" Dwight questioned. "Gloria -- what if --"

"What if this voice the kid hears is really Duke?  I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," she answered. "But right now, I have a phone call to make."

“Call who?” Dwight asked, looking over the e-mail again.

“Vicki; tell her to look after Aaron while I’m gone,” Gloria said.

“Gloria, you can’t investigate this kid, you don’t know where he is,” Dwight said.

“Laverne taught herself some tech skills while she was merged with the station; she can locate him,” Gloria said and got her purse.  “Guess I’ll take a rain check on lunch.”

“This could be one Duke ‘business’ associates that he ripped off, trying to get revenge,” Dwight said.  “You’re not going alone.”

“Are your volunteering yourself?” Gloria asked.

Dwight sighed.  “Looks like it.  I’ll have McHugh look after Lizzie and ask the Guard to research the Teagues’ archive and they find more about the Beale-Grant family.”

Gloria nodded.  She was about to leave, when Dwight asked the question she knew that was coming.

“Should I tell Nathan?”

“Let’s see what we find first,” Gloria said and left.                                     

* * *

 

_‘So . . . you’re adopted,’_ Duke said as Ida drove Todd to school.  _‘Care to tell me what happened?’_

_‘You’re the voice in my head; you already know everything about me,’_ Todd replied.

_‘Didn’t we already have this talk?’_

_‘If you’re not an alternate personality, then what are you?’_

_‘I’m . . . not really sure myself,’_ Duke said and he could feel Todd smirking.  _‘I guess  . . . I’m some kind of spirit?  Hey, this is all new to me too!’_

_‘Then if you were alive, can you tell me about yourself?’_ Todd asked. 

_‘I’m not a big fan of sharing personal information,’_ Duke said.

_‘So you’re not going to tell me about yourself and miss the chance to prove that you were alive and real?’_

There was a long silence in his head.

_‘You’re good, kid,’_ Duke finally responded, causing Todd to mentally grin.  _‘Okay, how about a deal: you tell me about your past and I talk to you about my life.’_

_‘Deal,’_ Todd said, as Ida pulled up to school and Todd exited the car.

_‘Do you want to start?’_ Duke asked as Todd entered the school.

_‘I have P. E. during second period.  We’re doing track and field; we could talk then,’_ Todd said and he could sense Duke’s curiosity.  _‘My parents would get more worried if they found out if I was not focusing in class.’_

_‘Smart,’_ Duke said.                                             

* * *

 

While Todd ran around the track, he and Duke had their mental conversation.  During the times when Duke explained Haven and the Troubles, Todd almost ran off the track.  Todd also had a chance to tell Duke about his past as well.  They were still talking during the next period.

_‘Wait, you live at sea . . . meet a mysterious woman . . . you best friend is in law enforcement . . .’_ Todd thought.  _‘You’re Dirk the pirate!’_

_‘I’m what?’_

_‘Before I heard you, I was having dreams and I wrote them into stories,’_ Todd said. 

_‘You were experiencing my memories,’_ Duke figured out.  _‘Then why did I have to tell you more about myself?’_

_‘I didn’t know they were your memories,’_ Todd said, as he tried to pay attention to what his history teacher, Mrs. Dolebrust, was saying. 

_‘You know, I think I had her is high school,’_ Duke said.  Mrs. Dolebrust was short, fat, had short curly brown hair, with wide jowls.  She wore glasses, too bright a lipstick, a printed dress, and shoes two sizes too small for her.  _‘I think they’ll all clones from a teacher from the 1950’s, and every school is required to have one.’_

Luckily for Todd, he burst out laughing when class was over so Mrs. Dolebust didn’t hear him.

_‘I thought you might like that,’_ Duke said, smiling, as they left the classroom.  _‘Na—‘_ Duke paused; he hadn’t told Todd how he’d died yet; and right now, bringing up Nathan was still a sensitive subject.

_‘Duke?  Are you okay?’_ Todd asked, feeling Duke’s uneasiness.

“Todd,” Bridget said, getting his attention.  “Hey, did you get the last two assignments Mrs. Dolebust gave us?  She refused to tell me when she left to her office.”

“Um . . . I wasn’t paying attention,” Todd reluctantly confessed; he was busy having a conversation with Duke during that time and Bridget looked disappointed.

“Don’t worry, Bridget, _I_ was paying attention, and I would be most pleased to help you,” Caesar said, walking over to Bridget.  “Unfortunately, I already put away my history notebook, so how about we walk back to my locker and get it?”

Duke could feel what Todd truly feel about the two together as Todd watched them leave.

_'You like her, don't you?'_ Duke questioned, and his response was silence.  _'Yeah, you like her,'_ Duke grinned as Todd mentally blushed. _'I'll tell you a secret about girls: They love mystery.'_

An idea occurred to him. _'You speak any foreign languages?'_

_'I’m 13; I’m not fluent in any foreign languages!  I'm taking Spanish, but I suck at it,’_ Todd said.

_‘Is Bridget taking Spanish?’_ Duke asked and discovered he could access Todd’s memories.

_‘We’re in the same class,’_ Todd said.  _‘Why?’_

_'Let me drive for a bit,'_ Duke told Todd as he noticed the poem they needed to learn in Spanish class though Todd’s memories. _'Chase off your competition.'_

_'I don't know about this, Duke,'_ Todd hesitated, recalling Duke fighting.

_'We're not going to hurt him; just beat him at his own game,'_ Duke told him. _'I speak five foreign languages.  Let me drive.'_

_'Wow, do you really?'_ Todd asked, amazed, just as Duke took over.

Duke forgotten what it was like to be a kid in school; he glanced at his reflection in the door glass as he walked past, seeing a young kid who'd suddenly gained a bit of swagger, and he approached Caesar and Bridget, just as Caesar was doing the old yawn-and-stretch routine on Bridget, neatly stepping in between them, and Caesar jerked his arm back.

"Hey, Caesar," Duke said in Todd's voice. "Do you think I could get that assignment too?"

"Yeah, well, I guess so," Caesar grumbled, giving him a dirty look.

"I was kind of spacing about that poem we're supposed to do for Spanish class," Duke went on, noticing that Bridget straightened up noticeably.

"Have you got it memorized yet?" Bridget asked.

"Well, just a little of it," Duke replied. “Let’s see . . . La rose que florece luz de la manana antes de (The rose that blooms ere morning light)/ Se ablande a mendo por el atardecer (is oft wilted by the dusk)/ Pero la rosa que florece en el crepuscudo es el lovliest levanto de todos (But the rose that blooms by twilight is the loveliest rose of all)," he finished, and gave her a smile.

"Todd, that's AMAZING," she beamed, and Caesar got an even dirtier look on his face.

"My pronunciation is a little rusty, though," Duke said, playing bashful.

_'I can't believe she liked that,'_ Todd spoke.

_'Watch and learn, kid, watch and learn,'_ Duke answered, grinning and took the paper from Caesar. "Thanks, buddy."

He made to walk away, and Bridget followed after. "Um . . . Todd?"

Duke stopped, and then glanced at her over his shoulder. "Mm?" he said.

"Um, I could help you with your pronunciation sometime," she replied shyly. "And then maybe you could read me some more of your stories.  If you don’t mind . . . I like to share some ideas.”

_'You've been reading her my memories?'_ Duke asked.

_'I didn't know they were_ your _memories.  And you're romancing the girl I like!'_ Todd shot back.

_'No,_ you _are romancing her, so you better pay attention,'_ Duke told him, and then gazed at Bridget.

"I'd like that," he said, giving her his best smile. "Maybe you could come over tonight -- we're having pizza."

_'We're having meatloaf,'_ Todd corrected.

_'You can't romance a girl with meatloaf!'_ Duke retorted. _'Tell your folks you want pizza.  Judging by your dad's face when your mom said meatloaf for dinner, you won't have too hard a time convincing him to order pizza.  Besides, I hate meatloaf.'_

_'Point taken,'_ Todd conceded, seeing Bridget's expression.  Maybe she really did like him.

_'I bet you could romance a girl with meatloaf if you really tried, Duke,'_ Todd grinned.

_'Maybe.   I know a guy who did it with pancakes, so I guess nothing's impossible,'_ Duke ruminated. _'Even more impressive was she didn't even_ like _pancakes to begin with.  Must've worn her down with that Gary Cooper 'Aw, shucks, Ma'am,' routine of his.'_

_'Pancakes?  Sounds like something Noel would do.'_

Duke was silent.

_'He's a real person too, isn't he?'_ Todd asked gently.

_'Yeah, he's real. His real name is Nathan.  I'd like to see these stories of yours when we get home.'_

“Todd?” Bridget said, getting both of their attention; Todd was back in control.

“Yes?”

“I said I need to talk to my dad about dinner,” Bridget said.  “I’m sure he’ll be cool with it; I’ll let you know.”

“Oh . . . okay . . . cool . . .” Todd said and he waved to Bridget as she left and Duke realized something.

_‘Wait, what about her mom?  Are her parents divorced or something?’_ Duke asked.

_‘Bridget’s mom died 5 months ago,’_ Todd said.  _‘It was some sort of cancer . . . Bridget doesn’t like to talk about it . . . her dad’s still single . . . I don’t know how she feels about him remarrying.’_

_‘Oh.’_

_‘So, Nathan . . . was that the guy who liked the teacher clone joke as well?’_ Todd asked.

_Yeah, that teacher was even mean to him,"_ Duke said, smiling slightly _. "And Nathan was your typical nice boy-next-door variety."_

_‘You went to school together?’_ Todd asked.  _‘And you’re still friends?  That’s cool.  Who was woman he was romancing?  Was she like Agnes?’_

Duke quickly looked at a clock.  _‘Shouldn’t you get ready for your next class?’_

_‘You’re right!’_ Todd realized and began running.  _‘It’s Mr. Spencer’s class!  He teaches English!  You’ll like him!  He keeps the lessons really interesting and shares with us little known information!  He encourages us to ask engaging questions!’_

Duke had to agree as he listened to Mr. Spencer teach.

_‘You know,’_ Duke said.  _‘If there were more teachers like him around, I would have spent more time at school.’_                                            

* * *

 

After school, to Todd’s surprise, it was Patton who picked him up, not Ida.

“Sorry I couldn’t call you about the change, Todd.  I knew you were in class, and I know the rules about cell phones,” Patton said once Todd was safe and seated.

“What’s going on?” Todd asked as Patton began to drive.

“Remember the conversation we had this morning?” Patton asked.

“Yeah . . .”

“Your mom made some phone calls, and we got lucky, the clinic sent someone over, and you’re going to meet her,” Patton said.  “Don’t worry about your homework; we’ll talk to your teachers.”

“Okay . . .” Todd said as he got out his phone and texted to Bridget that they had to cancel dinner plans.

_‘Sorry about that, kid,’_ Duke said, sympathizing.  _‘Look at the bright side; at least you don’t have to do homework.’_

Todd just smiled.                                                               

* * *

 

When they got home, Patton lead Todd into the living room where Ida and two other people were talking.

“Todd, I like you to meet Dr.  Gloria Verrano and . . . um . . .” Patton said.

“My P. A., Dwight Hendrickson,” the older woman said as she got up and walked over to Todd and shook his hand.  “Nice to meet you . . . kiddo.”

"So, Dr. Verrano, do you want to talk to us first, and then Todd, or all of us together?" Patton asked, anxious.

"I'd like to just talk with Todd alone for now.  Then you can join in and we'll talk about what we discussed," Gloria replied.

Ida and Patton nodded their agreement, and left, closing the sliding doors to the dining room, leaving Todd alone with Gloria and Dwight.

_'Is this your Gloria?'_ Todd asked Duke.

_'That is my Gloria.  The big guy is the police chief of Haven, Dwight Hendrickson; but I just call him Sasquatch,'_ Duke replied.

"So, Todd," Gloria began. "That's some e-mail you sent me.  I'm curious as to who told you all of that stuff."

"The voice in my head did," Todd said, then realized how crazy he sounded.

Gloria and Dwight glanced at one another.

"Stranger things have happened," Gloria muttered. "Remember what happened to us."

"We agreed we weren't ever going to talk about that anymore," Dwight answered out of the side of his mouth, and Duke laughed so hard it came through Todd, and both Gloria and Dwight looked at him strangely.

"Sorry," Todd apologized. " _He_ laughed, not me."

"Who laughed?" Gloria said.

"Duke did.  That's the voice in my head -- he says his name is Duke Crocker, that he was a real person.  Was he?"

"Yes, Duke was very real," Dwight answered. "But he died almost a month ago."

"That was around the time when I started having those dreams," Todd said. "So I'm really not crazy?"

"As far as Duke having been a real person, no, you're not crazy," Gloria told him. "Todd -- do you think that you might let me talk to Duke, if you're comfortable with that.  We can try hypnosis, if that will help, but I'm kind of rusty at it."

_'Let me talk to her,'_ Duke told Todd.

_‘'Kay,’_ Todd answered, and Gloria saw the change in Todd's demeanor almost immediately.  Duke smiled at her, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he addressed Dwight.

"Hello, Sasquatch," Duke said in Todd's voice, and grinned at the shock that crossed Dwight's expression.

"What's the combination to The Grey Gull's office safe?" Gloria demanded suddenly. "Only two people knew the combination: Duke Crocker -- and me."

"One turn left, stop on eight, two turns right to fifteen, one turn left to twenty, and one turn right to ten," Duke said.

"And what is the significance of those numbers?" she asked, her eyes growing bright.

"It's my daughter Jean's birth date," Duke replied, and Gloria put her arms around Todd.

"It's really you in there," she smiled, touching Todd's face.

"Duke," Dwight got out, stunned. "Why?  How did you--"

"I don't know," Duke replied. "The last thing I knew, I was in Haven PD, and then--" he gestured at Todd's body, “--I was here.  The how and why I have no idea.  I was hoping that you might know something about it."

"Us?  What would we know about transmogrification?" Dwight said, and Duke blinked in surprise at him.

"Look at you with the ten-dollar word," he cracked. "Todd was adopted by the Grants.  His birth parents were named Beale.  He told me something about them dying in a shootout in Haven."

"I'll look in the archives the minute we get back to Haven," Dwight promised. "But what do we do about you in the meantime?"

"We have to figure a way to get me out of Todd," Duke told them.

"But kiddo -- you don't have a body to go back to," Gloria told him. "If you leave Todd--"

"Then I'll probably cease to be," Duke finished. "The thought's occurred to me too, Gloria.  But for now, let's see what we can find out in the archives, and then we'll go from there."

Gloria nodded. "Do you possess him all the time?"

"No, I ask.  I remember how I felt when Tyler was driving me around without my permission.  I don't want Todd to feel trapped in his own body," Duke said. "I'm going to let him come back.  But he can hear me in his mind, and I can tell him any answers that you ask him,” he went on.  "So don't think you have to speak directly to me all the time.  I'm still here, Gloria," he reassured her, squeezing her hand affectionately. "I'm still here."

Duke blinked and Todd came back.

“Then . . . I’m not going crazy?” Todd asked Gloria and Dwight. 

“Like I said, no, you’re not,” Gloria said in a kind voice.

“All the things he told me . . . about Haven and the Troubles . . . they’re real?” Todd asked, and Gloria nodded back.  Todd sat down in the nearest chair _hard_.

 “Are you all right?” Dwight asked.

“I don’t know what’s worse: going crazy or finding out the supernatural is real,” Todd said.

Gloria sat down next to him and patted Todd’s hand reassuringly.

“At least now there are other people who can help,” Gloria said.

“What are we going to do now?” Dwight asked as the doorbell rang.  “We can’t take him back to Haven.”

Suddenly Ida screamed as noises of a fight were heard outside the living room.  Dwight signaled the others to stay as he went over to the sliding doors and took a peek.

Even after all he’d seen and experienced in Haven, what he saw shocked him to the core.  Smashing Patton’s head against the wall was the Aether big guy, and he could see the Aether little guy dragging Ida across the floor as he went for one of the knives from the knife block.

William’s henchmen had returned.  Dwight carefully closed the door and looked at Todd and Gloria.

“Gloria, call 911; get the paramedics here as soon as possible,” Dwight said.

“What’s going on?” Gloria asked as she took out her phone.

“William’s goons are back,” Dwight said.

“Now I really need a drink,” Gloria mumbled as she dialed.

“What about my parents?” Todd asked, concerned.

“I’ll help them, I need you to hide,” Dwight said.  “Duke, protect them.”

Duke nodded and Dwight left.

“The only place we can hide is behind the sofa,” Todd confessed.

“Better than standing around in the open,” Gloria said when she was done with the call.

Duke took over and led Gloria behind the sofa.

_‘Todd, does Patton own a gun?’_ Duke asked as they waited behind the sofa.

_‘No, why?’_ Todd asked.

_‘Remember what I told you about Troubles?  Well, Dwight’s Troubled.  I don’t know if it’s gone or returned.’_

_‘What is his Trouble?’_

_‘He can attract bullets’._

_‘Then why is he Chief of Police?  Isn’t he worried that a criminal might shoot him?’_

Just then, the sliding doors flew opened and the Aether big guy entered the room.  Duke instinctively looked for anything that he could use as a weapon.  He found one of Patton’s golf clubs lying on the floor as the big Aether guy found them.  Duke stood protectively in front of Gloria and welded the golf club as a weapon.

At that moment, Dwight snuck up behind the over-sized Aether henchman and put him into a chokehold.  The Aether-man promptly disintegrated into hundreds of little black balls of Aether and floated away, swirling out of the door.

Duke could see no sign of the other smaller Aether-man, and he surmised that Dwight must have already disposed of him as well.

"You guys okay?" Dwight asked.

Both Duke and Gloria nodded back and Duke let Todd back in control.  Todd immediately dropped the golf club and quickly headed for the door and Duke realized what he was doing.

“Dwight!  Gloria!  Stop him!  I can’t!” Duke called out, trying to stop Todd from seeing what the Aether henchmen did to his parents.

Dwight swiftly ran after Todd and held him back just as the paramedics arrived, but Todd could see the EMTs giving Patton chest compressions while two other EMTs were trying to stop the bleeding from the deep knife wounds on Ida’s arms and chest.

Duke let go of Todd as he let out a cry and collapsed into Dwight’s arms.

Dwight gently moved Todd into Gloria’s arms so he can talk to the arriving local police.

Gloria held Todd tight and let him cry.  Duke could nothing, but watch from inside Todd’s mind, wishing he could do something to help the kid.

 


	3. Can't Find My Way Back Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to TRDowden1 for help with the ending! You’re awesome!

 Ch. 3: Can't Find My Way Back Home

Gloria looked around impatiently as she waited with Todd in the hospital. Dwight was in charge talking to the doctors and the police while Gloria looked after Todd. So far there hasn't been any word on the Grants' condition. Gloria then checked on Todd, who finally stopped crying and was actually sitting up straighter.

"Duke?" Gloria cautiously asked and Duke nodded.

"Kid's asleep; he wore himself out crying," Duke said. "I told him to take a nap and I'll keep him updated."

"You can control his body while he's asleep?" Gloria asked and Duke nodded again. "Well, how are you doing?"

Duke shrugged. "Actually I'm getting tired as well."

"Do you need to sleep? I mean . . . technically you don't have a physical body," Gloria said.

Duke gave her a small smile. "I don't know . . . it's like I need rest to recharge my energies . . . I'm probably not making that much sense."

"Kitten, that's only thing that made sense to me today," Gloria said, and she and Duke smiled.

"So how did you gain the Grants' trust?" Duke asked.

"It was a stroke of luck. Ida must have made the call earlier, because as soon as she opened the door for us, she assumed I was the doctor the clinic sent once I introduced myself," Gloria explained. "While I was busy talking to the Grants, Dwight made a few phone calls to the Guard and they gave me Maddie's résumé so I looked real when Patton did a background check."

"The old Iron Maiden," Duke said, smiling. "I bet they were impressed."

"Oh, they were _very_ impressed," Gloria said and the both smiled again.

Dwight soon walked into to their sight and Duke mentally woke Todd up. Todd stumbled a bit, waking up, as he stood up and followed Gloria to Dwight.

"What's the news?" Gloria asked.

Dwight took in a deep breath before he spoke.

"Ida and Patton are in a medically induced coma," Dwight said. Todd bit his lip, trying not to cry as a tear rolled down his cheek, and Gloria placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Dwight then looked at Gloria. "I told the police that you were a long-lost relative of Todd, and I was a friend of your family. While we were visiting, home invaders attacked. They escaped before I could get a good look at them."

"I didn't have my glasses on so I couldn't see very well," Gloria added, catching on, and Dwight nodded before he looked at Todd.

"Todd, when the police question you, you're going to say you were trying to protect Gloria with the golf club," Dwight said.

Todd just nodded back, understanding, but sniffled a little.

"I can't even imagine what's you're going through, but this is the way it has to be," Gloria said to him. "Do you think the police are going to believe you if you tell them what really happened? Even if they do believe you, we can't have them involved with things beyond their comprehension."

"I-I get it," Todd said, through his sobs. "W-what's going to happen to me?"

"Has Duke told you about the Guard?" Dwight asked.

"A little."

"With the Guard's help, we're going to make sure Gloria is your legal guardian until your parents recover," Dwight explained. "Once the paperwork is through, you're moving to Haven. I even made it possible for you to go back to your room to pack. "

"What? But-but, my friends—"

"I'll stop you while you're ahead," Gloria said, and looked at Todd. "You don't have to listen in Duke, take five; Todd, this may sound cliché, but this is for your own good. In Haven we can protect you and maybe find clues why Duke is in your body and _how_ to get him out. You don't want Duke living in your mind for the rest of your life, do you?"

Todd shook his head, agreeing.

"I bet he's not even paying rent staying there, is he? Typical," Gloria said, and Todd briefly laughed through his tears. "That's better. I swear your smile reminds me of Duke's."

"Really?"

"Really," Gloria said, then looked at Dwight. "Where are we?"

"Like I said, paperwork and questions, then we can leave to get Todd's stuff," Dwight said.

"May I . . . may I see . . . my parents?" Todd asked.

"You have to ask the doctors," Dwight said.

Todd nodded and left to ask.

* * *

It was dark when Dwight stopped at the Grants' house, already taped off, surrounded by people.

"Do you need any help?" Dwight asked as they exited his truck.

Todd shook his head and walked back to the house; only to have a voice stop him.

"Todd!"

Todd turned around to see Samiir, Dominic, and Bridget running towards him. When they stopped, they began bombarding him with questions.

' _You know what to do,'_ Duke said.

Todd mentally nodded back. He hated lying to his friends, but he knew Duke, Dwight, and Gloria were right. He told his friends about how his Great-Aunt Gloria found him, accompanied by a friend of hers, about the home invasion, what happened to his parents, and what's going to happen to him.

"Oh, man, Todd . . . that's awful," Bridget said, and to Todd's surprise, she hugged him.

"This sucks," Dominic said. "I can't believe you have to leave."

"The police said the home invasion might have been personal; maybe something to do with my birth parents," Todd said, feeling Duke's approval. "I'm just staying in Haven until the police believes I'm safe."

"I don't think anyone is going to attack you with _him_ around," Samiir said, indicating Dwight. "What is he? A professional wrestler?"

"He's actually . . . part of Haven's law enforcement," Todd said, slightly tripping over his words, distracted by Duke's mental laughter. "Look, I need to get packing . . . but I promise we'll talk before I leave."

His friends agreed and Todd went inside.

Meanwhile, Dwight got out his phone and Gloria noticed.

"Calling Nathan?" she asked.

"I think you should call him," Dwight said.

"Why me?" Gloria asked incredulously.

"Because I have to call McHugh and tell him to take care of Lizzie overnight," Dwight said and looked at Gloria.

"Oh, you're going to use that old excuse," Gloria sarcastically said, but she took out her phone. She then paused. "I think it's better if I explain this to Nathan face-to-face."

"That's actually a good idea," Dwight said, after thinking it over.

"For now, I'll tell him that William's goons returned and the kid's situation," Gloria said.

Dwight agreed and they made their phone call. Dwight also made reservations at a nice hotel to stay in overnight.

When they were done with their phone calls, Todd came back, carrying a duffle bag, a satchel, and his skateboard. While Dwight packed his things, Todd had one last talk with his friends before he left.

"It's not like I'm going into witness protection; I can still contact you guys, and I will," Todd said.

"Do you think we can visit?" Dominic asked.

"Maybe . . . I'll let you know," Todd said.

"Watch yourself, you hear?" Samiir said. "I mean, who's going to watch your back now?"

Todd smiled back as he and Samiir grasped hands. He then looked at Bridget.

"Bridget . . ."

"Hey . . . I'll be okay . . . and you'll be back . . ." Bridget finally got out.

Todd just gently squeezed her hand and quickly shook hands with Dominic before he turned around.

"Todd!"

Todd looked back to see Bridget running up to him and gave him a hug.

"Hey . . . if you can make it . . . would you like to go with me to the Harvest Moon Dance?" Bridget asked.

Todd felt his heart flipped in his chest and Duke happy.

"Yes!" Todd said, hoping he didn't sound _that_ desperate. "Uh . . . yeah . . . I'll let you know if I can be there . . ."

Todd said good-bye to his friends once last time before he got in Dwight's truck and left for Haven.

* * *

After they got settled in the hotel, Dwight left to get dinner, while Gloria and Todd waited, watching TV. They didn't talk much, and Gloria hoped Duke was talking to Todd, trying to help the kid through the situation.

Gloria was partly right. It was Duke who was doing most of the talking, while Todd was just listening. Finally, Duke had enough.

' _Todd, I'm sorry what happened, but you can get through this,'_ Duke said.

' _You don't know what,'_ Todd finally said.

" _You might not believe it, but you will. If you don't believe you can, Dwight and Gloria will help,'_ Duke said. _'And I'll help as well.'_

' _How?'_

' _Ask me any personal question and I'll answer it,'_ Duke said, catching Todd's attention. _'I won't get defensive, I won't avoid the subject.'_

' _Okay,'_ Todd said, now interested. _'Who's Jean's mother? I didn't even know you had a daughter!'_

' _You_ had _to start with a hard one,'_ Duke said, glad that Todd hadn't experience those memories yet. He exhaled deeply before he spoke. _'Jean's mother . . . is also Troubled . . . it was a weird Jekyll-and-Hyde situation.'_

' _Did she kill people?'_

' _Not really,'_ Duke said. _'Her other self . . . Helena . . . slept with men, and she became pregnant . . . while in a couple of days the men began aging rapidly until they died.'_

' _You slept with her?!'_

' _I didn't know!'_

' _Man, I bet that was embarrassing.'_

' _Thanks, for the sympathy, kid, thanks,'_ Duke sardonically said, causing Todd to chuckle, and Gloria noticed.

"What's so funny?" Gloria asked.

"Oh, um, I think I embarrassed Duke," Todd said.

"Really? Good for you; it's not easy embarrassing Duke Crocker," Gloria said.

' _What happened to Jean?'_ Todd asked.

' _Because of the Troubles, I couldn't be near her or else I'll age again. She was sent away and adopted,'_ Duke said. _'I don't know where she is.'_

' _Oh, man . . . I'm sorry that happened.'_

' _That's how life goes in Haven.'_

A minute later, Dwight entered with pizza and a plastic bag full of drinks. Gloria turned off the TV and they gathered around the table and served themselves. Dwight brought out a six-pack for Gloria and himself, and they were shocked to see Todd reaching for one.

Duke felt the others' stares and let go of the beer.

"Instinct," Duke just said and backed off, letting Todd back in control, looking horrified.

"I—"

"Not your fault, Todd," Dwight said, and brought out a small bottle of fruit juice and a small plastic case of premade salad for the kid.

"So, Todd," Gloria said as they ate. "You said you had dreams before you heard Duke talk to you?"

Todd nodded. "I found out I was experiencing Duke's memories."

Dwight looked a little concern. "Uh, how much were you experiencing?"

"Actually . . . not that much. It's more like a writing assignment from Mr. Spencer. He gives us a photo or some piece of art to look at, and tells us to create a story from it," Todd said. "It was like . . . looking at photos, rapidly, and I couldn't make out the sounds clearly; it was . . . statically."

' _So that's why you couldn't make the connection between your dreams and my memories,'_ Duke realized. _'I still want to look at your stories.'_

Todd nodded and Dwight and Gloria noticed.

"Is everything okay with Duke?" Dwight asked.

"Yeah, he just wanted to look at my stories," Todd said. "I wrote stories based on my dreams . . . and his memories. It about a pirate named Dirk and the adventures he has."

Gloria smiled. "So Dirk is actually Duke?"

Todd nodded. "Then . . . you're Dalton the warrior and Gladys the witch?"

Gloria glared at Dwight, trying to hold in his laughter while Duke laughed in Todd's mind.

"Tell me there's a story where I change him into a toad," Gloria said to Todd, indicating Dwight.

"Um, no . . . you accidentally changed him into a bear, after he drank one of your special elixirs," Todd said.

"Ever better," Gloria said, smiling at Todd.

"I'm guessing most of the characters are based from real people from Haven," Todd said. "Noel is actually Nathan, and this William is Willard, the evil wizard . . . Duke hasn't had a chance to tell me more about them yet, but maybe you can tell me who are Agnes and Jewel?"

"Who are they in your stories?" Dwight asked after giving Gloria a knowing look. "You know . . . it might help us identify them."

"Well, Agnes is an otherworldly mythic and Jewel is a good witch," Todd said.

"Yeah . . . Agnes is actually Audrey Parker, she's a close friend of Duke's," Dwight said. "I can tell you what I know, but I think Duke should tell you the details."

"As for Jewel . . . that's another personal subject for Duke," Gloria said. "He'll tell you about her when he's ready."

* * *

Early the next morning, Gloria woke up and decided to get the coffee ready. To her surprise, she saw Todd was up, doing yoga.

"Teaching the kid some new hobbies?" Gloria asked, getting Duke's attention.

"He's still asleep and I couldn't just lie around in bed," Duke said, straighten himself out.

"I would offer you coffee, but giving coffee to a 13-year-old goes against my morals," Gloria said, making Duke smile. "Would hot chocolate work?"

"Do they have tea?" Duke asked and Gloria checked.

"Sorry, kiddo, nothing that strong here," Gloria said.

"Then I'll take the hot chocolate," Duke said and sat down.

Once the coffee and hot chocolate was ready, Gloria sat down next to Duke.

"What happened after I—" Duke began, but Gloria knew what he was going to ask.

"Well, Audrey somehow convinced Croatoan to back off and converted the old armory into the new Barn," Gloria said. "However, it still needed Audrey's love to power it, so she left, taking all the Troubles with her."

"And the armory?"

"Disappeared, and no one said anything," Gloria said. "Speaking about disappearances, the DNA marker for Troubles? Also gone. Dwight retired from the police force; spends most of his time with Lizzie. McHugh offered him a job at his bar and he accepted."

"So Nathan can feel again," Duke said. "How is he doing with Audrey gone?"

"She's not exactly gone," Gloria said and sighed. "Weeks later, a new woman appeared named Paige and she looks exactly like Audrey."

"Audrey came back different . . . again?"

"Looks that way; same old story: different face, can't remember her past selves," Gloria said. "The only difference is that somehow James came back with her."

"James is alive?"

"He somehow got regressed into a baby, but it's him," Gloria said.

Duke was silent for a moment as he pondered over the latest news.

"I wonder if you do a DNA test on James, it would show if Nathan is still his father," Duke wondered.

"Well, I am not going to be the one doing _that_ test," Gloria said, making Duke grin.

"How is Aud—Paige doing with Nathan?" Duke asked.

"They started dating a week after they met," Gloria said.

"No matter what happens, she's always drawn to him," Duke whispered to himself.

"They do seem to have some cosmic connection, don't they?" Gloria murmured overhearing Duke.

Duke shook his head all of a sudden, as though he didn't know where he was; and Gloria realized that Todd must be awake.

"What am I doing here?" he mumbled. "Ooh, cocoa," he noticed, and took a sip.

_'Sorry; I couldn't sleep,'_ Duke told him.

_'It's okay,'_ Todd answered.

"Todd, is that you, kiddo?" Gloria asked and he nodded back. She wasn't quite sure how, but she could definitely tell when Duke was 'driving' Todd, and when Todd was back in control. When it was Duke in charge of their shared body, he sat straighter, he was more self-assured and composed, where Todd felt ungainly and awkward, still trying to adjust to a rapidly changing body.

"Have you heard anything about my parents?" Todd asked.

"Not yet," Gloria assured him. "But no news is good news sometimes. I'll phone the hospital in a bit."

"Is it possible to see them before we get to Haven? Please?"

Gloria frowned, putting a hand on his. "I know you want to stay near them; but as I said, right now, we need to keep you safe. The police have round-the-clock protection on them, and Dwight's made the same arrangements with Nathan for you when we get to Haven," she went on. "We have to find out why William wants you and your family dead."

_'I'll help look after you too,'_ Duke spoke from the reflection in the mirror behind Gloria. He gazed at her. _'Sure wish she could hear me in your head,'_ he sighed. _'But like I told her, you can hear me, so she doesn't have to talk to me directly. This is_ your _body; I'm just sort of . . . a guest, I suppose.'_

There was a knock at the door. "It's Dwight," came the muffled reply.

"C'mon in, Dwight, we're having coffee - and cocoa," she answered.

Dwight came in, fully dressed.

"Just heard from the hospital - there's no change in Ida or Patton's condition," he began. "But their vital signs are stable; and that's a good thing," he reassured Todd. "But the doctors are continuing the medically-induced coma for them for the time being."

Todd nodded, blinking back tears, hearing Duke's reassurances in his head, and felt Gloria's hand on his.

"We need to get up and going," she told him. "And figure out your living arrangements once we get to Haven. Nathan even offered to put you up for the time being, he's got a spare room."

_'Hope you like pancakes,'_ Duke said ominously.

_'Do you like them, Duke?'_ Todd asked.

_'I'm more of a waffle fan myself,'_ Duke answered. _'I make . . . made . . . great waffles.'_

_'Maybe you can make us some sometime,'_ Todd answered.

_'Secret's in the syrup,'_ Duke winked.

"If you two are done having your tete-a-tete in Todd's noggin, he needs to get up and get ready," Gloria commented, and both Duke and Todd couldn't help but laugh.

"How'd you know?" Todd grinned.

"Duke was long on wind," Gloria cracked. "I don't imagine that's changed just because he died. Now hurry up - get dressed."

"That just leaves us with one other problem," Dwight noted as Todd got his clothes and closed the door behind him as he entered the bathroom.

"What's that?" Gloria asked.

"How to tell Nathan that Duke's . . . kind of back."


	4. Everyone's Changing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Many thanks for the incredible TRDowden1!

 Ch. 4 Everyone's Changing

 On the way to Haven, Duke told Todd about Audrey and her situation.

' _Does that make sense to you?'_ Duke asked when he was done.

' _I think so,'_ Todd said, as they entered the town and Todd looked around.

' _It's fine if you're confused;_ I _was confused,'_ Duke said. _'If you have any questions, just ask.'_

' _Okay.'_

' _Remember if we see her, she's Paige now.'_

' _Got it,'_ Todd said. _'So, who is Jewel?'_

"Hope you don't mind, but we're going to stop to pick up Lizzie," Dwight said as he parked his truck in a parking slot next to a playground, then everyone exited.

' _That's McHugh, another member of the Guard,'_ Duke pointed out, as they walked closer and Dwight waved to him.

' _Whoa! He's huge!'_ Todd said, making Duke smile as the two larger men talked.

"Daddy!"

Todd and Duke watched Lizzie run up to Dwight, who picked her up and hugged her. Todd walked closer as Dwight put her down.

"Lizzie, this is Todd; he's Gloria's grand-nephew," Dwight introduced. "Todd, this is Lizzie, and my friend, McHugh."

"Nice to meet you, kid," McHugh said, shaking Todd's hand.

"Hi!" Lizzie enthusiastically greeted. She then looked at Dwight. "When can we play, Dad? You said we were going to play when you come back."

"How about you play with Todd instead?" McHugh suggested. "There are a few things your dad and I need to talk about first."

"Okay! Come on, Todd! Let's play!" Lizzie said, grabbing Todd's hand and lead him to the playground. Duke looked back at the adults.

"So what's this about William's goons?" McHugh asked Dwight, once the 'kids' were gone. He then noticed Gloria's and Dwight's incredulous stares. "What?"

Gloria then smacked Dwight's shoulder . "You didn't tell him?!"

"You didn't tell Nathan!"

"Tell me what?" McHugh asked.

" _That's_ Duke," Gloria said, indicating Todd.

McHugh's face registered his shock, and he looked wide-eyed at Dwight.

"Uh, I'll buy you a drink later and tell you all about it," Dwight muttered.

"I think I may need several drinks," McHugh gasped, as Dwight lead him to the park benches.

* * *

Todd actually didn't mind playing with Lizzie; he enjoyed listening to her creative imagination, and Duke took this opportunity to rest. Right now, Lizzie the Lion-Hearted and Todd the Temperate were about to rescue the princess.

"We have to be quiet to sneak up to the dragon," Lizzie reminded Todd as they hid behind the bushes.

"Are you sure it's a dragon?" Todd asked, as he felt Duke come back. "I think some dragons are cool."

"It _has_ to be a dragon," Lizzie insisted. "What else could kidnap a princess?"

"It could be a manticore," Todd suggested.

"What's a manticore?"

"A manticore has a lion's body, a scorpion's tail, and a face of a man," Todd explained. "It has three rows of fangs and eats human flesh."

"Whoa," Lizzie, said, impressed. "Then . . . yeah . . . it's definitely a manticore."

"Okay," Todd said. "So . . . I'll follow your lead."

Just as Lizzie crept around the bush, she bumped into a little girl, who looked younger than her, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lizzie apologized, as the girl's nanny came to their side, and Todd helped the girl back onto her feet. Todd then felt something strange from Duke.

' _What's wrong, Duke?'_ Todd asked as he let the nanny looked over her charge.

' _I don't know . . . I got this weird feeling when I . . . when we were close to her,'_ Duke said.

"Hey, do you want to play with us?" Lizzie asked the girl and introduced herself and Todd to her. Her nanny approved and Lizzie smiled. "Okay, you can be the princess we rescue from the manticore. What's your name?"

"Jean," the little girl said.

' _Isn't that the name of your daughter?'_ Todd asked.

' _Yes . . . but, no . . . okay, there are no coincidences in Haven . . . but still—'_ Duke said.

"Todd, hurry up! We need to stop the manticore from eating the princess!" Lizzie said, getting Todd's attention, tugging on his sleeve.

"Oh, sorry . . . you're right . . . lead the way," Todd said.

A few minutes after Lizzie the Lion-hearted and Todd the Temperate saved the princess from the manticore, Gloria, Dwight, and McHugh found them. Lizzie said bye to her new friend and ran to her dad to tell him about their heroic adventures, while McHugh walked up to Todd.

"Duke?" McHugh asked in low voice, and Duke nodded back. McHugh then looked at Gloria. "Does this mean the Troubles have returned?"

"So far we don't know," Gloria said.

"Why are you asking that?" Duke asked.

"Because that is your daughter," McHugh said, indicating the little girl who was hugging her nanny.

Todd felt Duke retreat deep into his mind.

' _Duke?'_ Todd asked, concerned. _'Are you . . . crying?'_

Gloria reached out and held Todd close.

"I know you're in there," she said into his hair. "Todd, can you let me talk to him?"

_'Go,'_ Todd told Duke, who remained silent for a long moment before he spoke.

_'I never...I never thought I would ever get to see her,'_ Duke finally said, sniffling.

_'Talk to Gloria,'_ Todd urged, and he allowed Duke to come forth.

"Jean's adoptive parents died," Gloria told Duke. "When Addie found out, Beatty petitioned to adopt her back. She thought it would be safe now, since-"

"Since I died," Duke finished softly. He looked toward her. "She's beautiful."

"She has your eyes and hair," Gloria smiled. "Todd kind of does too. Sure he's not yours?" she teased. "Might explain why you ended up with him."

Gloria looked over Todd again; he did remind her of Duke. Expect Todd's nose was a little bit slimmer and his skin was slightly paler.

"Not that I'm aware of," Duke said, feeling Todd's protest. "But then again, this is Haven."

* * *

Todd looked around the police station as he followed Dwight, Lizzie, McHugh and Gloria. He noticed the door opened to the chief of police's office, and out came a woman with brown hair and a man with blue eyes, who was cooing over a baby he held in his arms.

' _That's Audrey, well, Paige now,'_ Duke said as they watched Paige took the baby and placed him in a stroller, and gave Nathan a quick kiss on his cheek. _'Then the baby must be James."_

Paige gave Todd a friendly wave and smile and he returned it as she left.

_'That's Nathan,'_ he heard Duke tell him, as Nathan signaled them to come in.

"Lizzie, can you stay here with Laverne while we talk to Nathan?" Dwight asked his daughter as Laverne walked up to them.

"You can read my stories while you wait," Todd said, taking out some of his notebooks from his satchel and gave them to Lizzie. "I think you'll like the adventures of Dirk the pirate."

"Thanks, Todd!" Lizzie said and left with Laverne.

Dwight glanced at Gloria, and then at Todd.

"Any ideas on how to break this to him?" he asked.

"You were the cleaner, Duke says," Todd answered. "What does he mean by that?"

"Later," Dwight muttered. "Hey, Nate," he answered as they entered his office. "I'd like you to meet Todd."

"Hi, Todd," Nathan answered and shook his hand. "I heard about what happened with your parents - and we're going to do everything we can to stop those guys." He looked to Gloria. "Thank God you and Dwight were there at his house - they could have hurt him too."

"We weren't just there by sheer coincidence - there was a reason for our visit," Gloria began slowly.

"What I don't understand how they're here," Nathan went on, not getting Gloria's subtle hint. "The Troubles are supposed to be over."

_'That's Nathan,'_ Duke said in Todd's head. _'He's a great guy, but sometimes, he's a little dense.'_

"I don't know how they're here either, Nathan," Gloria sighed. "But right now, we have another issue on our hands. Have a seat, Todd," she gestured. "You too, Nathan," she added. "You're going to want to sit down for this."

Puzzled, Nathan did as she asked, Todd sitting down opposite him.

"Todd contacted me," Gloria said. "He sent me an e-mail, and told me that he'd been having very real, intense dreams, and now, he's been hearing a voice in his head."

"How did he get your e-mail?" Nathan asked.

"I'm getting to that, Nathan," Gloria told him. "The voice told him that he had once been a living person - that he came from Haven."

"He's hearing voices? He needs a therapist, Gloria, not the local coroner," Nathan told her.

_'Let me drive. Please?'_ Duke asked Todd. _'Sometimes, you just have to hit him over the head with the truth.'_

_'Okay,'_ Todd said. _'Now I see why Dirk and Noel fought so much.'_

_'I never had a better friend than I did in Nathan,'_ Duke stated. _'But I'd be lying if I said we never fought with each other.'_

"So who was this living person that he's supposedly been hearing?" Nathan asked.

"Me, Nate," Duke said, and Nathan looked at him strangely.

"My name is Chief Wuornos, kid," he said a bit sharply.

"And I always called you Nate, even though you hated it," Duke said. "And I remember how I used to pick on you in school like when we stuck sixteen tacks in your back. And the winter you broke your arm sledding and I took you to the hospital," he went on softly. "And I remember how we sat right out here in this hallway and talked and I told you I turned in McGuinness so you wouldn't quit the force," he went on, seeing the tears build up in Nathan's eyes and slip down his face. Duke made Todd lean forward and put his hand on Nathan's.

"I don't know how, but I landed in Todd after-"

"After I killed you," Nathan whispered, and Duke heard Todd gasp in his head. _'He_ KILLED _you?!'_

_'There were some extremely extenuating circumstances,_ ' Duke replied. _'But yeah, he did.'_

"Duke?" Nathan asked, wiping his eyes.

"Yeah," Duke answered. "I'm here. For how long, I don't know, but - I'm here."

"Duke, there's—"

"Save the sappy speeches for later, I think we should return to figure out why Todd is so special," Duke said.

Dwight then nodded at McHugh who took out an old leather-bounded book which Duke recognized.

' _The Crocker Book of Death,'_ Duke said and sensed Todd's confusion. ' _It's the Crocker family journal.'_

"One of your ancestors liked to do genealogy," McHugh said and opened the journal to a certain page and gave it to Duke. "He even researched where the Crocker family line split, and then we found this."

McHugh pointed to a line where the name 'Beale' was written.

"Todd, if you can hear me, the Beale family is a distant relative of the Crockers," McHugh said. "I don't know how many times removed, but you are."

' _We're related?!'_ Todd said as he looked over the page.

' _It looks that way, kid,'_ Duke said.

"How does this explain what happened to Todd? Is this Trouble of the Beale family?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know, he only list the families, not the Troubles," McHugh said and Duke returned the journal. "Maybe you should keep it for now, you might have better luck."

Duke just nodded and placed the journal in Todd's satchel and Nathan checked the time.

"Look, I'm meeting Paige for lunch . . . what are we going to do for Todd's living arrangements?" Nathan said.

"Well, since Todd is supposed to be my grand-nephew, it would make sense if he stays with me," Gloria said.

"Does that work for you, Todd?" Dwight asked and Duke let Todd back in control.

"Yeah . . . sure," Todd answered.

* * *

After lunch, Gloria let Todd to settle in, while she looked over Vicki's work while she was gone.

"Um, Dr. Verrano?" Todd asked in a soft voice, as he stepped into the room.

"Is something wrong?" Gloria asked, starting to get concern, as she went over to him.

"Well, Duke's asleep . . . well, he's a spirit and they don't need sleep—"

"Let's just call it sleep and make it easier on all of us," Gloria said and Todd nodded.

"I don't want to wake Duke up . . ."

"Kid, Duke and I had a conversation and you slept right through it," Gloria said. "Just speak normally."

"Okay," Todd said. "It's about Duke."

"What about him?" Gloria said as they both sat down.

"He doesn't want to answer my questions and he doesn't say why," Todd said. "And I think I should know . . . since . . . you know . . . we're related and he's in my body."

"Let me be the judge of that; what are your questions?"

"Why did Nathan have to kill him and who is Jewel in Haven," Todd said.

Gloria sighed deeply.

"I really think you should discuss this with Duke, but I'll tell you, rather than keep asking him about memories which are obviously unpleasant for him and making you both miserable," she said, swallowing hard.

"It doesn't sound like it was very pleasant for you either," Todd noted.

"I was there when Nathan - did what he did," she replied. "Duke was being controlled by a monster, who was making him do terrible things," she said. "Duke managed to get control of himself again briefly; but we all knew that it wouldn't last for very long before the monster took him over again, or killed him to make himself stronger. Duke knew that if he died, the Troubles in his body died too. He asked me to help him - end his life," she went on, her voice cracking. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it. So Nathan did. It wasn't easy for him. I don't think Nate's slept a full night since - and not sure if he ever will again."

Todd nodded, listening.

"And who's Jewel?"

"I think Jewel is, or was, Jennifer Mason. She was pretty special to Duke," Gloria told him. "She died."

_'Yes, she was special to me,'_ Duke said harshly in Todd's head, waking up. _'So I think you could respect the fact that I don't want to talk about her just now instead of snooping behind my back.'_

Todd ducked his head, embarrassed, and Gloria saw it.

"Hey! Don't be yelling at him," she admonished, growing irritated with him. "He deserves answers. The Age of Secrets died out with Vince and Dave Teagues," she said. "So welcome to the Age of Full Disclosure, Duke Crocker."


	5. First-hand Experience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Huge thanks to TRDowden1 for being a great help!

 Ch. 5: First-hand Experience

 Todd scrolled though the photos on his phone of his friends and family as he waited for his toast to pop out. Ever since Gloria scolded Duke yesterday, Duke had been withdrawn. Todd could sense Duke was still there, but no matter how many times Todd called out for him, Duke didn't respond. Todd worried that he'd totally messed things up with Duke, and he hoped he really didn't, because . . . Duke was the only family he had right now.

 "Morning, kid," Gloria said as she walked into the kitchen when the toast was popped out and Todd got it.

 "Hey," Todd greeted in a soft voice.

"Is Duke still being an idiot and still sulking like a two-year-old?" Gloria asked, causing Todd to smile a little.

"I guess . . . so," Todd said as he put jam on his toast. "He's not talking to me."

"I thought so," Gloria said. "There was a way to stop his sulking, but it's not possible right now."

"Why not?" Todd asked.

"Because I don't want to get arrested giving gin to a minor," Gloria said, causing Todd to grin.

Gloria got her coffee and a muffin and sat across from Todd, who eating his toast. Gloria then saw Todd's phone and the photo of Todd and his friends dressed up as animals on the screen.

"What's going on there?" Gloria asked, indicating the photo.

"Before Halloween, our biology teacher, Mrs. Wallace, gave us an assignment to do a report of an animal and she allowed us to dress up on Halloween for our presentations," Todd said. "That's Samiir, he's a gorilla, Bridget is a puma, Dominic is a harpy eagle, and I'm a gray fox. Mrs. Wallace was even nice enough to take photos on all our phones."

"What's with the accountant?" Gloria asked, pointing out a person in a suit in the back. Todd smiled.

"That's Caesar. He said humans were the perfect animal so he dressed up as an entrepreneur," Todd said, still smiling.

"Did Mrs. Wallace have anything to say about his choice?" Gloria said, smirking.

"She gave him a D+. I only know about it because I overheard Caesar complaining about his grade to her. Mrs. Wallace said she only gave him a plus since he thought outside the box," Todd said, and Gloria smiled.

"You miss them a lot, don't you?" Gloria said, giving Todd his phone back.

Todd nodded. "When do I have to start school here?"

"If you're parents aren't awake in a week, then we'll work on transferring you to East Haven Middle School," Gloria said. "I'm not going to lie to you and say everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows and you'll make lots of new friends. Just . . . try to tough it out."

Todd nodded again, understanding.

"Good. In the meantime, I'm going to teach you some important lessons," Gloria said.

"Like what?"

"Well, Vickie and I are going to take Aaron to park, so today you are going to learn how to change a diaper," Gloria said and saw Todd's expression. "And you are not going to back out of it. We all agree someone should be nearby just in case William's goons try again. Plus, women love a guy who knows how to care for a baby."

"Even Bridget?" Todd asked out loud.

"Now I'm interested hearing more about Bridget," Gloria said, smirking at Todd who blushed.

* * *

Todd regarded Aaron suspiciously as Gloria held the baby. Aaron smiled up at him, cooing. He could smell the dirty diaper from here; and Gloria hadn't even taken it off yet.

_'I guess you're not going to coach me through this?'_ he prodded at Duke, and was met with silence.

_'Look, Duke, I'm sorry,'_ he said to him. _'I don't know what else to say than I'm sorry.'_

Duke maintained his stony silence, but Todd then realized that it wasn't anger he sensed – just a deep sadness. Clearly, he'd revived what were intensely painful memories for Duke, and he felt tears prick at his eyes.

"Aaron's didie's not that bad, is it?" Gloria grinned, and then sobered when she saw Todd wiping away tears. "Is Duke-"

"No, no, I'm fine," Todd answered. "I think we just made him really sad yesterday, and I didn't mean to."

Gloria looked sympathetic. "He's had a lot to be sad about," she replied. "We all did. But we got up and kept on going."

Todd managed to get through changing Aaron's diaper with no disasters, and even felt a little proud of himself for not hurting Aaron or throwing up, and he helped Gloria get him dressed.

They heard Vickie's car pull up, and she climbed out. As she did so, another car pulled in behind her, and Paige emerged from the car. She looked worried about something, and she hurried toward Gloria and Vickie.

"Hi, Vickie, hi, Gloria," she greeted, breathless. She then noticed Todd. "Hey, I saw you yesterday at the police station."

"Yes, you did. This is Todd, my grand-nephew. His parents were in an accident and I'm looking after him," Gloria said.

"Nice to meet you," Paige said, shaking his hand, then looked at the women. "I know I should have called ahead, but my phone died. Could I ask for a huge favor?"

"I guess so," Vickie said. "What's up?"

"Can you watch James for a few hours? I have to go out of town with Nathan."

"Well, I guess so," Gloria answered. "Why, what's up?"

"Nathan has a doctor's appointment in Bangor today," Paige answered, and Todd felt Duke stir in his mind.

"Why all the way to Bangor?" Gloria asked. "Dr. Torrance's very competent right here in Haven."

Paige frowned. "Nathan said he didn't want to scare people unnecessarily," she remarked. "He wouldn't say what he meant by that."

"Well, what does that even mean, he doesn't want to scare people?" Gloria protested, and Paige bit her lip.

"I don't know," she said finally. "It's just – Nathan says he can't feel anything. It started sometime yesterday."

"Can he feel you?" Duke asked, taking over.

Paige looked surprised at his question, but nodded her head. "Yes. He said that's all he feels; only James and I."

"Oh, you've _gotta_ be kidding me," Gloria groaned and Vickie looked near tears, but she nodded.

"Sure – I'd be glad to watch him for you," she told Paige, and Paige smiled.

"Thank you," she replied, and bustled back to her car to retrieve James from his carrier.

_'What did Gloria mean by that?_ ' Todd asked.

_'She means,'_ Duke sighed, _'that it sounds like the Troubles are about to stage a comeback. Lucky us.'_

Todd was quiet for a moment, thinking over Duke's statement. Duke too fell quiet, as though he were thinking over something.

_'Actually, it may not be all bad,'_ Duke said at length.

_'The Troubles sound they were awful and terrible things!'_ Todd protested. _'How is that not all bad?!'_

_'I'm thinking,'_ came Duke's answer _. 'C'mon – let's go inside. I need something from your book bag.'_

_'Duke?'_ Todd asked as they went inside.

_'Mm?'_

_'Are – are we good?'_

_'Yeah, we're good.'_

_'I'm sorry.'_

_'I'm sorry too,'_ Duke told him. He was silent a moment. _'I loved Jennifer – I promised her I'd be there for her to keep her safe, and I didn't,'_ he went on.

_'I think you did your best,'_ Todd commiserated. _'Gloria said you did.'_

_'Apparently, my best wasn't good enough,'_ Duke remarked. _'So maybe we can do better the second time around, eh?'_ he smiled at Todd.

_'What do we need from my bag?'_ Todd asked as Duke overrode him, digging through the bag.

_'This,'_ Duke said, setting down the Crocker family journal on the desk. _'We have a little research to do.'_

* * *

' _So we're looking for the Trouble that exorcised Mara from Audrey?'_ Todd asked Duke as he read through the journal. They were in the park where Vickie and Gloria took turns watching over the babies and calling people with harmful Troubles to be careful. _'Or did it exorcise Audrey from Mara?'_

' _Both,'_ was Duke's answer. _'If we can find the original family who had it, we can locate them and use it to separate us.'_

' _What about that time where Troubles just landed in random people? What if that happened again?'_

' _Let's just start with the easier theory for now, okay?'_ Duke said with a small tease in voice. It wasn't until Gloria's phone rang that Todd spoke again.

' _Duke?'_

' _Yes, Todd?'_

' _Do you think I have the same Trouble as your family?'_

' _I don't know, kid, and I don't want to find out.'_

"Sorry to interrupt your research, but there's been a car accident," Gloria said, making Todd look up. "One, maybe two dead, and Nathan and Paige were in it."

"Are they—" Todd began.

"They're fine; just minor injuries," Gloria said. "But they need Vickie and me to look over the bodies, so start packing up."

* * *

Todd scanned the scene of the car accident from Gloria's car, looking for Nathan and Paige. He soon found Paige standing next to an ambulance, talking to Nathan, who was sitting inside, tending to his injuries.

' _I want to check on them,'_ Duke said.

' _We can't leave the babies behind! Gloria will strangle me!'_ Todd said, glancing over his shoulder to check on Aaron and James.

Duke chuckled. _'Wow, in a few days you already got Gloria down. Nice job, kid. Vickie seems to be free. Ask her to look after Aaron. Say you want to check on Paige and you want to take James along. We can use the same excuse if Paige asks us why we're here.'_

Todd agreed and Vickie was fine to look after Aaron. As Todd walked over to Nathan and Paige, carrying James, he overheard the two talking.

"So you seriously can't feel any pain?" Paige asked.

"It's called idiopathic neuropathy," Nathan said.

"You really couldn't feel when the other car slammed against us?"

"No."

"Can you feel fire?"

"No."

"Ice?"

"Oddly, yes. I can feel ice."

"You can feel ice?"

"No."

"Can you feel anything?"

"I can feel a headache coming on, though."

Duke laughed through Todd, and Paige saw them.

"Todd, what are you doing here?"

"Dr.—Aunt Gloria wanted me to help with the babysitting, and I had to tag along when she heard about the accident," Todd said. "I just wanted to see if you were all right."

"We're okay; just some cuts and scrapes, plus a few bruises," Paige said and took James.

Nathan then saw Gloria signaling to him.

"Sorry, Paige . . . it looks like this accident is my case," Nathan said as he got out of the ambulance.

"That's fine. Just be careful from now on, okay?" Paige said.

Nathan nodded and kissed Paige before he walked over to Gloria. Duke took control and followed him.

"What is it?" Nathan asked as they stopped next to Gloria.

"Well, the good news is that there is only one dead body," Gloria said. "The other one is in a coma."

"Okay . . ."

"However, the coma wasn't caused by the accident," Gloria said, getting the men's attention.

"You mean she slipped into a coma while she was driving?" Duke asked.

"So far, that what it looks like," Gloria said.

"After my appointment, I got a report saying that two other people slipped into a coma, with no apparent cause," Nathan said. "This is definitely a Trouble."

* * *

A little later, Todd found himself at the hospital, jiggling a fussy Aaron's carrier while they waited for the neurologist to finish making his report to Nathan. Dwight was involved in what looked to be a very heavy conversation with Gloria and McHugh, and he could feel Duke pacing restlessly in his head. Todd could feel Duke's frustration at being excluded; but he had a feeling it was something more.

_'Duke?'_ Todd questioned.

_'Yeah, kid?'_ Duke answered wearily.

_'Can I ask you something?'_

_'You are full of questions, aren't you?'_ Duke asked rhetorically, but there was no malice in his tone.

_'I'm sorry – I'm just trying to understand all this Trouble stuff,'_ Todd apologized.

_'Kid, I lived through it – twice – and I'm still trying to understand it,'_ Duke sighed.

_'Is that why you're mad?'_

_'I'm not mad – I'm just frustrated,'_ Duke sighed _. 'My best friend essentially murdered me to end this stuff, and it caused the both us to lose our other best friend, Audrey. This wasn't supposed to HAPPEN anymore, and why it is, I'm . . . I'm just frustrated,'_ he went on. _'If I had my own body, I'd hunt William down and beat him senseless. And then throw him back in the Void for eternity.'_ He was a quiet a moment _. 'We gotta find out whose family had the Reincarnation Trouble.'_

_'How do you know it would even work?'_ Todd asked him.

_'I don't. But it's worth a shot. You don't want a permanent roomie, do you?'_ Duke asked.

Nathan came up then.

"Todd – could I talk to Duke, please? It won't take very long."

"Sure," Todd answered, and the boy blinked a couple of times, and stood up. It still hadn't ceased to amaze Nathan how like Duke Todd became when Duke took over the kid's body.

"Looks like a pretty intense conversation going on over there," Duke remarked. "Do I get to know what it's about?"

"A lot of it's about you – or rather, your family," Nathan mumbled.

"You mean Jean," Duke said. "She's too little to do anything about the Troubles, and the first person with the brilliant idea to try and trigger that particular talent it is going to be SERIOUSLY sorry about it."

"I agree," Nathan said. "But it's not about that. Beatty's little – situation – has come back."

"Oh, boy," Duke said. "So that leaves Addy caring for three little people; and she's not exactly a spring chicken, is she?"

"No, she isn't. For now, Jean's going to stay with Dwight and Lizzie, and the other two will stay with friends of Beatty's."

"Has _his_ Trouble come back yet?"

"Not so far. But Dwight's already taken precautions," Nathan gestured, and Duke noticed the heavy flak vest peeking out from under Dwight's jacket. He glanced their way, and came over.

"I guess Vince hasn't returned, has he?" Duke asked without preamble.

"Not yet, no," Dwight answered. "But at this rate, we should see him soon enough." He glanced Todd over.

"Went digging in the archives," he went on. "Nathan and I got to thinking on when you pulled Audrey out of Mara. That's a Trouble you inherited from your family."

"Great minds think alike," Duke replied. "Todd and I were looking into it in the journal."

"That Trouble was solved by Jedediah Crocker, your great-grandfather," Dwight told him. "Trouble came from a family named West."

"I had a Daphne West that used to work at the Gull," Duke remembered.

"That's the family," Dwight said. "She and her fiancée are off camping, but McHugh's going out to go look for them. See if we can't do something about your current living arrangements."

At that moment, Gloria returned with Dr. Jabowski, the neurologist.

"What's Mrs. Smythe's condition?" Nathan questioned.

"It's very strange," Dr. Jabowski murmured. "The EEG reveals there's no trauma from the accident."

"Meaning?" Dwight asked.

"Meaning that they had already entered their coma-state before the car accident," the neurologist said. "And their brainwaves-" he shook his head. "It's almost indicative of a serene state of mind."

"For those in the group that don't speak medical, it's like they're having a really good dream and don't want to wake up," Gloria said.

" _That_ sounds familiar," Nathan muttered.

"Henry," Dwight stated flatly. "Sounds like he's at it again."

"What about Henry?" McHugh asked, joining in on the discussion as Gloria had a different conversation with Dr. Jabowski.

"We think he's behind the comas," Nathan said.

"Um, could someone fill me in on who is Henry, please?" Duke asked.

"When you were . . . gone . . . we had to think of a new justice system," McHugh said, glaring at Duke, but felt a little bad scolding a kid who wasn't involved. "Henry's Trouble placed people into stasis, and there he controlled their dream world and their memories. It was the only solution we can think of to punish law-breakers."

"But then Audrey found out, and Henry became obsess with her. His face was badly scarred and Audrey was the only one who treated him with kindness," Dwight said. "He placed her into stasis and wanted to marry her. Charlotte went into stasis voluntary to help Audrey free and Nathan stayed by Audrey's side, talking to her. With the help of Grayson, they all aided Audrey escaping Henry's dream world."

"Who's Grayson?" Duke asked.

"We'll explain later," Nathan said. "After Audrey freed herself, everyone who was in stasis woke up and Henry somehow ended up in stasis."

"When the Troubles were over, he did wake up," McHugh said. "We mostly ignored him, but I know he has a grudge against all of us."

"What makes Henry really dangerous is that he can kill the people he puts in stasis with his mind," Dwight said. "So if you do see him, approach with caution, it will be like talking to a gunmen with hostages."

"Great idea, Dwight, except I have no idea what he looks like!" Duke said.

After Gloria talked to Dr. Jabowski, her phone buzzed, and she walked off a short distance. She listened intently, her face distressed, before she hung up and went over to the group.

"That was the hospital in Delain," she said. "Patton's condition has taken a downturn. They've taken him back to surgery."

Duke could feel Todd's upset, and he relinquished control, and let Gloria comfort him.

"Dr. Jabowski says the doctor who is working on him is very good," she soothed. "I know it's awful, to just sit and wait, but it's all we can do for right now."

Todd nodded agreement, unable to hold back his tears anymore, and bolted down the hall to the little chapel at the end of the hall.

Gloria made to after him, but Nathan put a hand on her shoulder.

"Give him a minute," he said. "Duke's with him. He'll talk to him."

* * *

Todd sat in the pew, wiping his eyes. Duke didn't say anything; he knew, sometimes, the best thing was just to cry it out, and he waited patiently while Todd hiccupped through his sobs.

"You seem so sad," a voice said behind them.

"Sorry – I didn't know anyone was in here," Todd sniffled.

A shaggy-haired man emerged from the shadows. As he drew nearer, Todd could see he looked as though he'd been in a serious accident, his face crisscrossed with scars. He sat down in the chair opposite Todd, his face concerned.

"No need for apologies," the man said. "Everyone gets sad sometimes." He tilted his head, regarding Todd, and Duke felt a chill pass over him. There was something faintly off about this guy, and he started to tell Todd that, but the man spoke again.

"Why are you sad? Did someone die?"

"No," Todd croaked, gratefully accepting the tissue the man offered. "M-my Mom and Dad got hurt in a home invasion," he said. "I just found out my dad isn't doing too good – they had to take him back to surgery."

The man nodded, understanding.

"That is terrible," he sympathized. "What's your name?"

"My name's Todd," Todd answered.

"I am Henry. Nice to meet you," the man told him. "I know how it is when someone you love is hurt," he went on. "You just wish that you could make things go back to the way they were before."

Todd nodded agreement. "I sure do. I wish that it had never happened."

' _Todd – I think this is the guy that Dwight was telling us about,'_ Duke warned. _'Don't—'_

"I understand," Henry replied, and placed his hand on Todd's shoulder.

Instantly, Todd collapsed, and Duke felt Todd suddenly be whisked away from himself.

_'Todd!'_ he cried out, but Todd's body wouldn't respond to him. _'What did you do to him?'_ he yelled at Henry mentally, as Henry smoothed Todd's hair down. _'Don't put your hands on him, leave him alone!'_

"Now everything is better – isn't it?" Henry told Todd, and then got up and left.

_'Todd? Todd! Come back!'_ Duke cried out in his head. He had to figure out how to reach him, but for now, he was trapped in a comatose body, and could only listen helplessly.

"Todd, do you need—" Dwight started to say, but he couldn't see the boy. "Todd? Todd?"

Dwight scanned the pews and soon found Todd's unconscious body.

"Nathan! McHugh!"

Both men rushed inside the chapel to see Dwight gently carrying Todd's body.

"No . . ." was all Nathan could say.

"He couldn't have gotten far. McHugh, check the security cameras!" Dwight ordered.

McHugh just nodded and rushed out, past Gloria, who came in and let out a scream of despair when she saw Todd.

' _It's Henry who's behind this! Dwight! Nathan! I'm still here! Henry did something else to Todd!'_ Duke mentally yelled to the men, seeing if somehow if they could hear him. Suddenly, Duke felt exhausted, like he ran a marathon without any breaks, and darkness soon overtook him.

* * *

With help from the Guard, it took 10 minutes to locate Henry and dragged him to a cabin which McHugh owned. Dwight and Nathan sat across from Henry, while McHugh stood in back of them. Henry just sinisterly smiled at them.

"Dwight, you look well; do bullets just ignore you now?" Henry said.

"Why him, Henry?" Dwight asked. "He's just a boy; you don't even know him."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong; I do know him," Henry said. "Or rather, someone told me about him. The others before . . . they were just test subjects . . . I just had to practice to see what new things my Trouble does now."

"Someone told you about Todd?" Nathan asked.

"Yes; he seems such a nice boy, I can't understand why someone wants him out of the way," Henry said. "He's just a lonely boy; I hope he finds what he's looking for."

"I thought you made your victims happy," Dwight said.

"Didn't you get the memo? I'm just the caretaker. The people make their own dreams now, their own happiness; I just sit back and watch," Henry said. "It's so refreshing seeing people's dreams come true than facing disappointment every day."

"Who told you about Todd?" Nathan asked.

"However, the same rules as before still apply," Henry went on serenely, ignoring Nathan's questions, "kill me and you kill everyone I placed in a coma, and I can still kill my . . . visitors, just one new detail," Henry said. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Mr. Uris seems to want to stay in his dream world than to face reality again."

"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked.

"It's another new detail: if the person wants to stay in their dream world, they die; it's the only way it can work," Henry said. "If you don't believe me, call the hospital."

"Keep an eye on him," Dwight said to McHugh as he and Nathan got up.

McHugh nodded back as Nathan and Dwight exited the cabin.

"Gloria, stop!"

Nathan looked up from his phone to see Gloria marching towards them and intercepted her.

"Gloria, Henry will not listen-" Nathan began.

"Oh, I'm not going to talk to him," Gloria said. "I'm going to rip his eyes out and shove them up his-"

"Look, how about you-"

"Sit by Todd's side and do nothing?!" Gloria said and Nathan saw her blink back tears. "I can't, Nathan! I can't do that!"

* * *

Duke woke up on a park bench and looked around. Where was he? This wasn't Haven. He then saw his own hands, feet, and body. He ran his hand over his face and felt his facial hair and checked and saw his tattoos. He then checked for a pulse and found he had one. He was alive again. How . . . okay, how could wait, he had to find out where he was. He soon got himself out of the park and walked down the sidewalk, and recognized a house from Todd's memories; it was Samiir's house. So he was in Delain . . .

Wait . . . Henry . . .

Duke then heard kids laughing and saw Todd, Dominic, and Bridget waving good-bye to Samiir. Soon Dominic left in the opposite direction, and Todd and Bridget starting walking; Duke followed them at a safe distance.

"My Dad's making macaroni for dinner; do you want to join us?" Bridget asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't," Todd apologized. "My Mom wants me to pick up some plant food from Mr. Tremayne."

"That's fine, I'll see you tomorrow at school," Bridget said.

Todd and Bridget smiled at each other and kissed. Duke had to smile, impressed.

' _Nice moves, kid,'_ Duke thought as Todd got on his skateboard and skated home, and Duke continued to follow him.

Duke watched Todd pick up the plant food and skated home, where a car pulled up into the garage. However, the people who came out of the vehicle were not Ida and Patton, and Duke soon recognized them from the research he did on the shootout when the boy was asleep: Roland and Susan, Todd's birth parents. Roland reminded Duke of Roy Crocker, except his face was a little rounder. Susan was quite pretty with shoulder-length light brown hair and eyes. Duke sighed as he saw a dog that looked like a collie mix got out of the car.

"Todd," Duke said to himself as he saw Todd smiling with his parents. "Why do you have to make everything hard?"

He then saw Roland talking to their next-door neighbors and realized they were Ida and Patton. From the way they were talking, they seemed to be good friends.

Duke collected himself and walked over to Todd. After Todd put his skateboard away, he saw Duke and smiled, delighted.

"Duke!" Todd cheerfully greeted and ran up to the man, and gave him a quick hug, surprising Duke.

"Todd?" was all Duke could say. "You . . . recognized me?"

"Of course I do!" Todd said, still smiling. "All you did was cut your hair. Looks cool! Hey, Dad! Duke's here!"

"Duke? Hey, cuz, what are you doing here?" Roland said, when he saw Duke and shook his hand, as he patted his shoulder. The dog happily barked and wagged her tail, getting Susan's attention.

"Duke? I told you: no more surprise visits!" Susan said, but she smiled and gave him a quick hug.

"Yeah . . . I know . . . but I had to do just one more," Duke said, playing along.

"Well, come on in," Roland said, as they all went inside.

"Come here, Sadie! Good girl!" Todd called to the dog.

As Duke walked through the house, he saw not only pictures of Todd and his parents, but of himself and Todd. From the pictures on the wall, it looked as though Duke had known Todd since he was a baby.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Susan's asked, when she entered the kitchen. Todd sat down on the sofa with Sadie.

"Um, no, I'm fine now," Duke said.

"Are you going to stay for dinner?" Susan asked.

". . . Maybe . . . I have to check . . ." Duke said.

"So what brings you to Delain?" Roland asked.

"Just some . . . business . . . but I had to stop by and say 'Hi,' to my favorite cousin," Duke said.

"I'm your only cousin."

"I wasn't talking about you," Duke said with a teasing smile as he looked at Todd, who smiled back.

"Hey, Duke, do you think next time I visit Haven, my friends can come along to see _The Cape Rouge_?" Todd asked.

"Todd, Duke is probably busy," his mom said. "You know Haven and its Troubles."

"Actually . . . it's been pretty quiet," Duke said. "The only exciting thing that happened is that Nathan brought new socks."

That made everyone laugh.

"Well, it's been quiet here as well," Roland and patted Todd's shoulder. "There was a little incident last week, but nothing serious."

"Dad, I grew wings in front of everybody," Todd said, blushing a little.

"You should have seen him, Duke, he was so handsome!" Susan said. "It was wonderful seeing him flying for the first time!"

"Mom took enough pictures to share with the whole neighborhood," Todd groaned.

"Todd, you knew it was only a matter of time before the family Trouble activated," Roland said.

"Yeah, but your Trouble didn't activate at school!" Todd said, then looked at Duke. "I bet yours didn't either."

"Well . . . some of my friends were around . . . actually, that's why I'm here," Duke said. "I ran across some information in the family journal and I wanted to check on Todd."

"Is something wrong with Todd?" Susan asked, concerned.

"Oh, no, it's probably nothing, but I have to make sure; I just need to speak with Todd . . . in private . . . because some of the questions are quite personal . . . I don't want him to be embarrassed," Duke said.

"There's no way you can embarrass me, Duke," Todd said, smiling at him. "But yeah, we can talk in my room."

In Todd's room, Duke sat down in the desk chair, and Todd sat down on his bed.

"What's up?" Todd asked.

"Todd – you know that you're dreaming all of this, right?" he asked.

"Dreaming what?" Todd questioned, his smile fading. "Duke, you're not making any sense."

"Look, I know all this with your friends and Bridget and your parents feels wonderful and everything's great and all, but it isn't real, Todd," Duke explained as gently as he could. "This is a Trouble, caused by a man named Henry."

"What are you talking about?" Todd said, his face puzzled. "Do you feel okay, Duke?"

"I feel fine," Duke answered. "But Todd, you HAVE to wake up. If you stay here, you're going to die, and then we'll both be dead."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Todd cried, and got up and ran out of the room.

"Todd, wait!" Duke called after him, and followed, only to find he was . . . back on _The Cape Rouge_.

"Todd?" he called.

"Todd has his own happiness," a voice behind him said. "You could have your own too, Duke."

Duke turned, seeing Henry behind him, his scars gone.

"You need to wake him up – NOW," Duke ordered.

"He doesn't want to wake up," Henry said in that strange flat tone of voice. "He's happy there – he has everything he ever wanted."

"He's a KID," Duke snapped.

"But you're not," Henry answered. "They denied you your happiness in Haven. But you could have that here," he gestured behind Duke.

Duke turned. Ahead of him, he could see Jennifer, cooking in the galley. She then turned around and saw him.

"Well, there you are," she smiled. "About time you came home from the Gull. You know Nathan and Audrey are going to be over for dinner soon," she scolded affectionately, coming out from behind the counter, and to his shock, Duke could see that she was pregnant, her belly bulging beneath her blouse.

She noticed him staring at her, and rubbed her bump affectionately.

"He's been kicking all day," she smiled, putting her arms around Duke. "He missed his daddy. I did too," she breathed, kissing him.

Duke knew in his mind it was only fantasy, but he could FEEL the warmth of her body, could smell the spaghetti sauce cooking on the stove, hear the creak of the _Rouge_ as she shifted on the tide.

"What – what about the Troubles?" Duke asked.

"The Troubles? The Troubles are over, Goofy," she laughed at him. "Boy, you must have really had a hard day at the Gull. The Troubles have been over since that day at the lighthouse, you know that. When we sent William back into the Void, they ended."

"No. No, they didn't," Duke whispered. _'How can this feel so real?'_ he thought.

"They did so," Jennifer assured him. "Ask Nathan and Audrey for yourself. Come on," she urged. "Sit down – relax. They won't be here for half an hour yet," she told him, nestling in beside him.

He glanced around the living area. There was a picture on the wall of he and Jennifer standing on a beach, her in a wedding gown, he and Nathan in suits and ties, Audrey beaming in a bridesmaid's dress. Other pictures were of he and Jennifer in various locales around the world.

Jennifer glanced up to see what he was looking at, and smiled at the pictures.

"Our honeymoon," she said. "You were so romantic," she told him, kissing him again. "We sailed around the world for two months. We'll have to do that again in a few years."

"Yeah," Duke answered absently. He closed his eyes, savoring the warmth of her next to him.

"This could be your life, Duke – if you so choose," he heard Henry say. "All you have to do is accept it."

Duke felt the sting of tears in his eyes. Henry was right; it was all he'd ever wanted, Jennifer in his arms, the Troubles to be over. But he knew no matter how much he wanted it, this world didn't exist. In the real world, the Troubles hadn't gone away, Jennifer was dead, and for that matter, so was he.

"No," Duke told her, standing up and looking down at her, the hurt in her eyes apparent, and it stabbed him to the heart. "This isn't real. You're not real, no matter how much I'd like for it to be. Your Trouble won't work on me," he went on sternly, looking back at Henry.

"And why wouldn't it?"

"Because I'm the one who gave it to you in the first place," Duke answered.

Henry looked angry, and Jennifer and the _Rouge_ faded away, and they were left standing in a gray nothingness.

"I offered you a chance," Henry told him. "If Todd chooses to stay, he will die – and so will you."

"Look...look," Duke amended hastily. "It's not that I don't appreciate your offer, Henry. But that world doesn't exist for me anymore," he went on. "Couldn't I stay with Todd in his?"

"That is Todd's world, not yours," Henry told him sternly.

"I just want to be with family," Duke replied. "Todd's all I have – he's still alive. As much as I loved Jennifer, I know she's gone – I could never be truly happy there," he went on softly. "Please – take me back to Todd."

Henry seemed to think it over; and nodded agreement.

"You should be with family," he said, and Duke found himself standing in the hallway in Todd's house once more.

He went back into the living room.

"Where's Todd?" he asked Roland.

"Outside with his friends," Roland answered. "He seemed kind of upset. Everything okay with you two?"

"Yeah, everything's great," Duke said, and went outside.

He walked over to where Todd and Bridget were sitting on the stone wall that ran along the side of the house. Todd gave him a dirty look, but Bridget smiled and waved.

"Hi, Mr. Crocker," she said.

"Hi, Bridget," Duke answered. "Do you think I could borrow Todd for a second?"

"Sure. But don't be too long," she answered, and jumped down, going over to Dominic, who was shooting hoops.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, and then Duke spoke.

"It's nice here, isn't it?" he asked, looking around them.

"Yeah," Todd answered, his tone stony. "It is, when _you're_ not trying to mess it all up."

"I don't blame you for wanting to stay here forever," Duke went on. "Here in this world, your parents are alive, your adoptive folks aren't hurt, and Bridget's your girl. But this isn't real, Todd," he said gently, seeing the tears form in Todd's eyes, and he noticed the skies going dark overhead, and heard the rumble of thunder. "And I think that you know that too," he continued, as the wind began to pick up. "But that isn't to say that some of those things _couldn't_ come to pass," he told the boy. "But you have to be willing to stay in the world in the here and now for them to come true."

"The real world sucks," Todd whimpered.

"I know things suck bad right now," Duke told him, his hand on his shoulder. "But you have new friends—good friends to help you through it," he soothed. "Gloria and Nathan and Dwight are the truest friends a guy could ever hope to have, and I think Paige would be a great a friend to you as Audrey was to me. I'm lucky that I had them when I was alive," he smiled. "And they'll be your friends too – if you choose to stay with them. So what do you say . . . shall we go back?"

Todd glanced over to the now-empty basketball court, at the house fading away into gray nothingness, and he took Duke's hand in his.

"Good job," Duke smiled, and the world faded away.

"No! You can't do this!" they heard Henry's voice yelled and Duke stood protectively in front of Todd. "I need him! It was part of our deal! Stop! Please! I can bring him back! Please, give me another chance! No! Don't!"

Duke ran to the source of Henry's screaming and Todd followed him. Duke soon found Henry being held up by William, using one hand. A dark fog came out of Henry's mouth and into William's. When William was done sucking up all the fog, he threw Henry's lifeless body aside and looked at Duke. Duke actually took a step back and placed a hand on Todd's shoulder. William's eyes were now black and dark, but they looked different from when Duke saw in the vision of himself; it was like looking into the empty eye sockets of a skull.

William seemed to sneer at them and a thinny appeared next to him. William stepped through it and both he and the thinny vanished.

"Duke," Todd shyly asked. "Was that . . . William?"

"Yes and no; it looked like William, but it didn't act like William," Duke said.

"How do we leave?"

"I don't know; just . . . think of waking up?" Duke guessed.

Todd concentrated and a door manifested on the other side.

"Nice job," Duke said, smiling and they both headed to the door. As they walked, Todd saw Duke was slowly fading away and he noticed it as well.

"Todd?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you remember me in your dream world? I kind of ruined your life."

"I don't blame you for everything bad that happened. It's nice to know that I have . . . had family out there," Todd said as they both stopped in front of the door. "I'm . . . glad I'm related to you, Duke."

Duke smiled back. "Yeah; it's nice to see not all of my family are jerks."

Todd smiled as Duke faded from his sight and back into his mind. Todd was about to reach the doorknob when Duke spoke.

' _Do you really want a pet?'_

' _Sadie was my dog . . . before my birth parents were killed. She had to go to the animal shelter. I asked my parents if I could get one, but Dad said I have to get straight As first. Why?'_

' _Maybe I can convince Gloria to allow you to have a pet.'_

Todd smiled, opened the door, and walked through.

* * *

Todd stirred and blinked his eyes opened. He heard a gasp and turned to see Paige, standing up and ran to the door.

"He's awake!"

Dwight and Gloria ran inside as Vickie handed James to Paige and she went outside the room to care for him. Gloria gave him a huge hug as soon as Todd sat up.

"Todd, are you okay?" Gloria asked, when she let him go and Todd nodded back. "And Duke?"

"Still here," Duke said. "Did you catch Henry?"

"We did, however McHugh called and reported a minute ago, Henry died," Dwight said. "All of his victims are awake . . . except one."

"So what we saw was real," Duke said.

"Saw what, kiddo?" Gloria asked.

"In Henry's dream world, we saw William killing Henry," Duke said. "But it didn't act like William."

"What do you mean?" Dwight asked.

"Besides his new look, he didn't behave the same," Duke said. "If that was really William, he would have made a clever cryptic wisecrack at me before he disappeared. This William seemed . . . emotionless."

"Then what was it?" Dwight asked.

Just then Nathan entered the room and saw Todd was awake.

"Nathan, Duke has something important to tell you," Dwight said.

"So do I," Nathan said. "The armory, it's back."


	6. The Other Back-Up Plan

Ch. 6: The Other Back-Up Plan

Nathan, Paige, Todd, and Duke looked at the armory standing before them.

“So you’re saying if we enter the armory, it will answer all my questions on all the strange stuff that’s been happening?” Paige asked.

“Yes,” Nathan said.  “Please, trust me on this, Paige.”

“I do, Nathan,” Paige said and looked back at James who was safe with Gloria, Dwight, and McHugh before she headed for the armory.  Nathan, Todd, and Duke followed her.

Nathan was the first one to reached the door and opened it . . .                         

* * *

 It was just like the first time entering the barn; everything was white and spacious.  Nathan took in a deep breath  as his sense of touch returned.

“Nathan . . .” Paige said, making him look at her.  They weren’t aware Todd walked passed them, taking in everything.

“I can feel, when I’m in here, Paige,” Nathan explained.

“I know,” Paige said, as she placed her hands on his cheeks.  “I remember everything: Audrey, Lucy, Sarah . . . Veronica . . . Mara . . . I remember.”

Nathan just smiled back and they kissed.

“This is _so_ cool!” Todd exclaimed, interrupting their kiss, and they saw Todd looking around with awe and wonder.

_‘I’m glad you think that,’_ Duke’s voice said and Paige, Nathan, and Todd turned to see Duke walking up to them.

“Duke . . .” Nathan said, taking a step forward.  “Are you . . .free?”

_‘I don’t think so, Nathan,’_ Duke said, but his mouth didn’t move; they could only hear him telepathically.

Paige walked up to Duke and tried to touch his face, but her hand went through him.

_‘I’m still a spirit and still connected to Todd,’_ Duke said.  _‘Whatever binds me inside of Todd, doesn’t work in here.’_

Curious, Todd tried something.

_‘Duke, can you still hear me?’_ Todd thought.

_‘Yeah, I can still hear you, kid,’_ Duke said, looking at Todd.  _‘It looks like the others can’t hear us when we do this.  This means I can make rude jokes to you about Nathan and he can’t stop me.’_

Todd had to laugh, making Paige and Nathan look at him.

Before they could ask, they heard someone coming closer.  They turned to see Vince walking up to them.

“Nathan, Paige . . . Duke?” Vince exclaimed when he saw Duke walk into his line of sight.  “How . . .?”

“That’s one of the reasons why we’re here, Vince,” Nathan said, as Todd shyly took a step forward so Vince could see him.

“Oh, hello; I’m Vince Teagues, and you are?” Vince asked in a friendly tone, relaxing Todd.

“I’m Todd Beale-Grant,” Todd answered, but then he felt a wave of killer intent radiating from Duke.  _‘What’s wrong, Duke?’_

_‘_ He’s _here,_ ’ Duke answered as another man walked up to them.  _‘Croatoan.’_

_‘That’s Croatoan?’_ Todd said.  _‘He doesn’t look dangerous.’_

_‘Remember looks can be deceiving,’_ Duke said.

_‘I know, but he looks like what my Dad would call a ham-and-cheese actor,’_ Todd said and tried to hide his smile when he heard Duke’s mental laughter.

“Hello, Dove,” Croatoan greeted Paige.  He just nodded at Nathan, then noticed Duke.  “I thought you were dead.”

_‘I_ am _dead,’_ Duke said, glaring at Croatoan, and Todd could feel Duke’s anger growing.

“Who’s the child?” Croatoan asked, when he saw Todd.

“He is Todd Beale-Grant, and they were about to explain why he is here,” Vince said.

Paige gave Todd an encouraging look.  “Go on, Todd.”

Todd then explained his dreams, his past, hearing Duke in his mind, and the events that lead him to Haven.  Croatoan looked uninterested, until Todd got to the part about the Beales being a distant relative of the Crockers.

“Well, well, well, it worked,” Croatoan commented, getting everyone’s attention.

“What are you talking about?” Vince asked.

“You know I visited Haven before.  Around . . . what was it . . . the 1600’s?  Just wanted to check up on Mara’s work and how the Crocker Trouble was doing . . . then I thought: ‘What if the townsfolk decided to wipe out all the Crockers?’  I couldn’t let all of our hard work be destroyed.  So I devised a . . . back-up plan . . . if you will,” Croatoan explained.  “The spirit or soul or whatever you call it now, of the last living Crocker would enter the youngest member of the nearest next-of-kin, of the same gender of course.”

_‘That would explain why I didn’t wake up in Jean,’_ Duke said to Todd.

_‘Yeah, that would have been really mess-up,’_ Todd said, making Duke smile.

“What would happen then?” Paige asked.

“Oh, the spirit of the last living Crocker would then override the living relative, taking over,” Croatoan calmly explained.  “Probably even mature the body to adult age.  Luckily, the plan was never needed, well, until now, that is.  This is probably one of my most brilliant ideas.”

_‘Man, this guy has an ego the size of Texas,’_ Todd said, making Duke mentally laugh.

“Is there any way to remove Duke without risking Todd?” Paige asked.

“Of course, but then Duke would cease to be,” Croatoan stated.

“Can’t you do anything?” Todd asked, as everyone looked at him.  “I mean, if you’re as powerful as you say you are, can’t you restore Duke?”

“I’m sorry, Todd, but we have to place your situation aside for a moment for a more important issue,” Vince said in a kind voice.  “Don’t worry; we’ll get back to you.”

“It’s about the return of the Troubles, isn’t it?” Nathan asked, and Vince nodded.

“Is it William?” Paige asked and Vince sighed.

“After what you hear, you’ll wish William returned,” Vince said.

“The Void still wants your world,” Croatoan said.  “However, since I’m stuck here, there’s no way it can enter, so it decided to steal my trick.”

“What he’s saying is that the Void possessed William to enter our world,” Vince said.  “As the Void stepped into Haven, it let Aether out, thus bringing back the Troubles.”

“Is there any way to stop him . . . it?” Nathan asked.

“Unfortunately, not yet,” Vince admitted.  “All we have for good news is that William and Paige are no longer linked because William is . . . technically not himself.” 

“Thanks, Vince,” Paige said, smiling at the older man.

_‘Then who sent those goons after Todd and his family?’_ Duke asked.  _‘Was it William or the Void?’_

“Probably the Void; it knows the Crockers collects Troubles, and wanted the last living one under its control,” Croatoan said.  “It’s what I’ve would have done.”

_‘And I thought no one could be as annoying as Caesar,’_ Todd said, making Duke smile.

“Why does it need Troubles?” Nathan asked.

“We believe the Void wants the other world as well,” Vince said.  “It has the key, but it needs power to enter there.”

“What does that mean?” Paige asked and Nathan looked guilty.

“William helped me escaped the Void, and as a show of thanks, I gave him my ring,” Nathan said.  Croatoan glared at Nathan.

“Well, great,” Croatoan sarcastically said.  “Now it has the power to devour _two_ realities.”

“How was I to know that William would have been possessed by the Void?” Nathan snapped back.  “My Trouble doesn’t warn me on bad ideas.”

“Why does the Void need Troubles?” Todd politely interrupted.

“Aether can be energized with life-force,” Vince said.  “The more it stays inside a living being, the more energized it becomes.”

“So Void is going to use the Troubles as a power source to fully enter our world and the other world?” Paige asked.

Croatoan smiled.  “That’s my girl.”

_‘The Void is going kill Trouble people just to collect the energized Aether,’_ Duke said.

“However, it’s not going be like before with Howard; I’ll be more active in helping you,” Vince said.   

“We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Nathan said.

“We will,” Paige said, and looked at Duke and Todd.  “Let’s go back to Duke.  Can you restore him?”

“Not from in here,” Croatoan said.  “My power is limited, if you would let me out . . .”

“Which is a bad idea in so many ways,” Vince said, glaring at Croatoan.  “I still don’t trust you, and you know that the Void would be attracted to you because of your connection with Aether, and would just swallow you whole.”

_‘A win-win,’_ Duke said, smirking.

“Then . . . what if I helped?” Paige said, getting everyone’s attention.  “I now have Mara’s knowledge, I could help.”

“Working with together with you, Dove?  It would be my greatest joy,” Croatoan said.

_‘You haven’t answered her question,’_ Duke said, and Croatoan thought it over.

“Well, we need some of your DNA . . . but yes, it could work,” Croatoan said.

“Good thing your DNA is all over Haven,” Nathan said, looking at Duke.

_‘It’s rude to speak ill of the dead, Nathan,’_ Duke said.

“If this works, you won’t be,” Nathan said, giving Duke a quick smile, which he returned.

“Um, what about his Trouble?” Todd asked, getting the adults’ attention.  “If Duke comes back to life, would his Trouble return?”

“Oh, yes,” Croatoan said, confident.

_‘Why are you asking, Todd?’_ Duke asked, looking at him.

“Because it’s . . . horrible making you kill people just to get rid of dangerous Troubles!” Todd said.  “Nobody should make someone else kill others!”

No one said anything for a moment.

“I could alter it,” Paige said, getting everyone’s attention.  “I know what Mara did to Jody.  I could try that with Duke.”

“Paige, altering a Trouble _and_ creating new life?” Nathan said. “It’s too much for you.”

“I know,” Paige said and smiled at Nathan.  “But I owe it to Duke, and you know you owe Duke as well.  So for Duke, have faith in me Nathan that I can do this.”

Nathan looked reluctant, but smiled.

_‘Speaking about Troubles,’_ Duke said.  _“What about Todd?  Does he have the same Trouble as me?’_

“That’s actually a very good question,” Vince said as both he and Croatoan looked at Todd. 

Croatoan walked closer to Todd as he studied the boy.  He then reached out to Todd, but Duke stood in his way.

_‘Hands off,’_ Duke said, looking at Croatoan the same way one would look at a freed pedophile.

“What are you going to do?  You’re dead,” Croatoan said.

“He can’t, but I can,” Vince said.  “Two words: solitary confinement.”

“Do you want me to see if he has the Crocker Trouble or not?” Croatoan asked.

“Don’t worry, Duke; I’ll keep an eye on him,” Vince said.

Duke stepped aside, but kept an on Croatoan as he examined Todd.

“Hmm, hmm,” Croatoan said, peering into Todd’s eyes.  “Open your mouth . . . good.”

_‘Well?’_ Duke asked, when Croatoan was done and Todd closed his mouth.

“Maybe . . . not sure,” Croatoan said, causing everyone to stare at him incredulously.  “The Beale family has been separated from the Crockers for centuries!  Without control, the Trouble could have mutated!  The only sure way is to test it . . .”

_‘No,’_ Duke firmly stated.  _‘Todd doesn’t deserve the same curse as the Crockers.  I’d rather be ignorant and not know the answer than have him live through what I had to do.’_

_‘Thanks, Duke,’_ Todd said, grateful and watched Croatoan walked back and sighed.  _‘That was pointless.’_

_‘Hey, it could have been worse; he could have made you strip,’_ Duke said.

_‘True,’_ Todd said.

“So, all you need is to come back with Duke’s DNA, and we’ll see what we can do,” Vince said.

“There is one small detail everyone missed,” Nathan said, causing everyone to look at him.  “Duke’s _dead._   How are we going to explain he’s alive again?”

“Can’t you change people’s memories like Howard did?” Croatoan asked, looking at Vince.

“Yes . . . I could . . . I suppose I have to . . .” Vince said.  “We could say Duke was in Jamaica . . . and it would only affect those who aren’t aware of . . . Duke’s new condition . . . ”

_‘That will work,’_ Duke said.

“Well, good.  Oh, before you leave: Paige, you will still remember everything once you leave the armory.  Since the Void now controls the Troubles, there may be some you’re not immune to; even Duke might be affected by some, if he’s brought back.  The only one who is truly immune is—“ Vince said.

“James,” Paige said and Vince nodded.

“Keep him safe,” Vince said, then looked at everyone.  “Well . . . the meeting’s adjured.”     

* * *

 Later that night, Todd was scrolling through his photos and videos of he and his friends as he lay in bed.  He felt better than he did in days.  Duke might be freed and Gloria told him that Patton’s surgery was successful, but he was still in a coma.

_‘If this works, you might even make it to the Harvest Moon Dance,’_ Duke said.

_‘Yeah,’_ Todd responded.

_‘What’s the matter, kid?  You don’t sound very enthusiastic.  I thought you wanted to go out with Bridget.’_

_‘I do, but, I just—‘_ Duke then saw the reason as he watched a video from Bridget’s birthday party.

_‘Your dance skills need improving,’_ Duke said.

_‘You said it.  I mean, I don’t mind if I’m with my friends, but in public—‘_

_‘I get it, kid, I get it,’_ Duke said as he looked through Todd’s memories.  _“Okay, you’re not_ that _bad; you just need . . . refinement.’_

_‘What are you saying?’_

_‘I know some dance moves.’_

_‘You can dance?’_ Todd said.  _‘You speak five foreign languages, know how to sail, and how to dance?  Is there anything you can’t do?’_

_‘Stay out of trouble,’_ Duke said and he and Todd smiled.  _“Let me control your body for the lessons, that way it will be muscle memory to you.  Okay, we need some music . . . good . . . now this is how you dance to this beat . . . a one and a two . . .”_


	7. Rebirth Revolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Let’s hear it for the magnificent TRDowden1!

 Ch. 7: Rebirth Revolution

Gloria went up to Todd’s room and found him practicing slow dancing.

“Todd?” Gloria guessed.

Todd stopped dancing as he turned around and saw Gloria.  He then turned off the music.

“What are you doing?” Gloria asked.

“Duke’s been teaching me dance moves,” Todd said and Gloria smiled.

“So you can sweep Bridget off her feet?” Gloria asked and Todd blushed.

“If this works . . . Duke says there’s a chance I can attend the Harvest Moon Dance,” Todd said.

“I hope this works as well,” Gloria said.

“You told Nathan and Paige that you were going to supply the DNA,” Todd said as they walked out of the house.  “Did you get it?”

Gloria nodded and showed him the little antique scrimshaw box she held.

“What’s in there?” Todd asked.

"A lock of his hair," Gloria answered.

"Why that?" Duke questioned, unable to keep silent.

Gloria gave Duke a small sad smile.

"Didn't think I would ever see you again, kiddo," she told him, touching his face.   “I remembered you gave me this box Christmas a few years back and I thought it would be the best place to keep it safe.”

"I remember," Duke said, smiling.

_'What'd she give you for Christmas in return?'_ Todd questioned.

_'Baked goods,'_ Duke answered quickly _.  'Really, really good – baked goods.'_

_‘What kind of baked goods?  A pie?  Cookies?  Were they the brownies in the e-mail?’_  Todd asked, curious.

_‘Let’s just head to the armory,’_ Duke said and quickened Todd’s pace.                                                           

* * *

 Vickie and McHugh waited outside as they cared for James while they watched Nathan, Paige, Todd, Gloria, and Dwight entered the armory.

They saw Vince and Croatoan when they got inside.

“What are they doing here?” Croatoan asked, indicating Dwight and Gloria.

“Just in case something goes wrong,” Dwight said, glaring at Croatoan.

“Well, it’s good to see you both again,” Vince warmly greeted.

Gloria reached into the box and gave the lock of hair to Vince.

“Please be careful with it,” Gloria said.

“We’ll try,” Paige said as Vince placed the hair in-between himself, Croatoan, and Paige.

“You all know this may not work,” Croatoan said.  “Or you may not like the results.”

“What do you mean?” Dwight asked.

“Either Todd or Duke could be killed, or both of them,” Croatoan said.  “It could end up with Todd in Duke’s mind or—“

“I think we get the idea,” Vince said, stopping Croatoan, and looked at Todd.  “Are you ready?”

“Can I have a minute alone with Duke?” Todd asked.

Vince agreed and Todd and Duke walked over to the other side so the adults won’t see him.

_‘What’s going on, kid?’_  Duke asked.

_‘If something goes wrong and we don’t see each other again, I just want to say . . . thank you, Duke,’_ Todd said and did his best to hug him, but somehow Duke felt the hug psychically.  _‘Thanks to you, I know Bridget likes me, I can dance better, and I know I have family out there.’_

_‘Yeah . . . I should thank you as well.  If weren’t for you, I would have never had a chance to play with Jean,’_ Duke replied _.  ‘I love you, Todd,’_ he blurted, and then realized what he said.  _‘I mean I love you like the dorky little brother I never had, not in a creepy pedophile way.’_

_‘I know what you mean,’_ Todd answered, smiling.  _‘I love you too, like the rebellious big brother I never had.’_

_‘Thanks, Todd,’_ Duke said and hugged Todd d in a way that he somehow felt it both physically and emotionally.  _‘Todd . . . would you promise me something?’_

_‘Of course, Duke.’_

_‘If—if this doesn't work, and I go for good—would you promise me to look after Jean?  Be her Uncle Todd?’_

_‘I promise.’_

_'Thank you.  Well, let's not keep them waiting,’_ Duke finished, and they walked back to the group.

“What do I need to do?” Todd asked.

“Just stand there and expect pain,” Croatoan said.  “Enough pain that could render you unconscious.”

This earned him glares and stares from the others.

“What?  Did you want me to lie to the boy?” Croatoan said.

“Duke, you must be willing to let go of Todd; to face the unknown,” Paige said.

_‘Hold nothing,’_ Duke said and felt Todd’s curiosity.   _‘It’s a Buddhist saying.’_

Duke nodded.  Croatoan and Paige began  moving their arms in the way that they did to control the Aether and what she did as Audrey to create the Aether core.  The lock of hair dissolved into particles of light as a large transparent sphere formed in-between Paige, Croatoan, and Vince.  Soon, the sphere was filled with the dots of light, resembling stars.

Duke faded away and Nathan soon noticed Todd began twitching and jerking, like the time Duke was about to explode with Troubles.  However, instead of black spheres, light like the aurora came from Todd’s eyes.  The opalescence light entered the sphere as swirled around, making a humanoid form. 

The sphere opened, like a flower blooming.  Suddenly, there was a sort of explosion, and they were all knocked to the ground, stunning them all momentarily.

Nathan was the first to recover, and scrambled over to Paige, who was lying on her back.

"Paige," he said softly.

Paige's eyes fluttered open.

"Todd," she gasped, looking around for the boy.

Dwight shook the cobwebs out of his head and went over to Todd, while Vince helped Gloria to her feet.  She glanced up, and gasped.

"Vincent," she breathed.  "Look," she gestured toward the corner of the room.

A few feet away from them lay an unclothed male form with his back to them.

"Oops," Vince muttered, and gestured at the form, clothing materializing around the body.  "Sorry about that, Gloria."

"Well, we're born the first time around without clothes on, why not the second?" Gloria answered, going slowly over to the man.

Nathan helped Paige sit up.

"Did it work?" she asked.

"Yeah," Nathan answered, smiling, watching Gloria go over to Duke.  "You're amazing," he said, and kissed her.

Dwight bent down to Todd, who was sitting up blearily.

"Hey, kid – how do you feel?" he questioned as he helped Todd stand up.

"Uggh...like I went on the wrong roller coaster," Todd groaned, shaking his head.

Gloria knelt down alongside Duke, and stretched a hand out, placing it on his forehead.  He was warm to the touch, and she felt the sting of tears in her eyes as Duke drew a breath and opened his eyes, gazing directly at her.

"Hello again, Gloria," he said, and Gloria clutched Duke to her, hugging him tightly.

Gloria fought the tears down, but lost, and sobbed into Duke's shoulder.

"It's okay," he whispered, his hands gentle on her face.

Gloria brought herself under control.

"It's been a hell of a roller coaster ride this year – even more so for Haven," she said gruffly, blowing her nose.  "Can you stand up, because I gotta tell ya, this old lady's knees ain't what they used to be."

"I can stand," Duke chuckled, and stood, helping Gloria to her feet as Nathan came over to him, looking as though he were about to cry himself.

"Duke," he breathed. "Duke, I--"

"You did what I asked you to do," Duke replied, giving Croatoan a dirty look. "So a certain _someone_ couldn't do more harm," he directed at Croatoan.

"Well, that's gratitude for you," he sniped.  "Back from the dead less than a minute, and he gives me attitude."

"That just tells me he really is Duke Crocker," Nathan answered, and put his arms around Duke, hugging him tightly, and Duke patted his back.

"It's all right, Nate," Duke told him quietly.  "It's over, it's done with.  So no more feeling guilty about it, right?"

Nathan nodded, sniffling.

"Right," he answered, clearing his throat.

Duke gently extracted himself from the little group and went over to Todd.

"You okay, kid?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Todd said.  He wrinkled his forehead.  "Did you hear what I thought at you?"

Duke shook his head.  "Nope; I'm afraid the connection's been broken."

“Really?  It kind of cool having that link, it was like a superpower,” Todd said and Duke chuckled as he messed with Todd’s hair.

Paige then went over to Duke and hugged him.

“My turn now,” Paige said and smiled at Duke.  “I’m more happy seeing you alive than knowing we’re successful.”

Duke just smiled.  “Speaking about superpowers, how did you alter my Trouble?”

Paige looked worried.  “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember?” Duke asked.

“I remember concentrating on stopping the Crocker Trouble from killing, but then there was that explosion . . .” Paige said.  “I’m sorry, Duke; all I know is that you never have to kill again to end a Trouble.”

“Well, that’s good, right?” Todd said, overhearing them.

“Yeah, that's good," Duke answered, his face dubious.  "Unfortunately, it also means that I won't know how to help them solve a Trouble – or to know if somebody's Troubled in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Todd questioned.

"Never mind," Gloria answered in Duke's stead.  "I want to get Todd home, and give him and Duke the once-over, make sure they're all right, and Aaron's probably out there screaming for dinner right now."

"Kind of hungry myself," Duke muttered.  "Getting reborn gives you an appetite."

"You fixed everybody's memories, right?" Duke asked, looking at Vince. "So nobody's going to freak out and think I'm a zombie or something, are they?"

"No, as far as everyone knows, you've been out to sea, and have returned," Vince answered.

“Good,” Duke said.

“Any update on the Void?” Nathan asked.

“I’m sorry, not yet, but I’ll let you know,” Vince said.

* * *

After Gloria checked on Todd and Duke, she made them a ‘successful return to life’ meal.

“Gloria, let me help,” Duke said.

“This is my treat; so sit down,” Gloria said, giving Duke a look and he obeyed. 

Gloria soon finished cooking and served everyone.  She then got out a bottle of wine and poured herself and Duke a glass. 

“Never thought how much I missed alcohol when you’re not allowed to drink it,” Duke said, smirking at Todd.  Gloria smiled at Duke and they toasted.

“Um, what happens to me now . . . since Duke’s back?” Todd asked.

“You’re still staying with me in Haven.  I’m sorry, but you can’t return to Delain, not with the Void out there searching for you,” Gloria said.

Todd looked sad, but nodded understanding.

“Gloria, is _The Rouge_ still around?” Duke asked.

"She is," Gloria told him.

"Did you sell her?  It's all right if you did, obviously, nobody was expecting me to come back from the dead," Duke said.

"I started to sell her, but – the guy wasn't, well, _right_ for her," Gloria answered.  "I thought Linc was gonna kill me for that one," she added, glancing toward the living room where her husband Lincoln was bouncing Aaron on his knee, making him laugh.  "But I told him the Rouge Committee wasn't going to sell her to just anybody."

"And who exactly is the Rouge Committee?" Duke asked.

"Myself, Dwight and Nathan," Gloria told him.

"And what did he say to that?" Duke grinned, pouring himself a second glass and topping Gloria's off.

"He said we could pay the dock fees when they came due next month," Gloria told him.  "We put your things into storage, so she's cleared out, but it won't take much to put it all back."

"And my truck?"

"That did get sold, I'm sorry," Gloria replied.  "Bill McShaw bought it.  But I bet if you talked to him about it, he'd sell it back to you."

"Talk about a second chance," Duke chuckled, and Gloria leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"So take advantage of it this time," she told him, cradling his face.  "I still can't believe you're here."

"Better here than in there, eh, Todd?" Duke winked, poking Todd's forehead, and Todd rubbed his head.

"Yeah," Todd replied.  "Duke – do you think we could go see your boat?"

"I was thinking along those lines myself," Duke told him.  "But I'm afraid I don't have a ride just now."

"Oh, take mine," Gloria sighed. "I know you – you'll take off walking to the harbor if I don't loan it to you."

"Could I go too?  Please?  I've never seen a big ship up close," Todd begged.

"That's up to your aunt there," Duke said, eyeing Gloria.

"Take him – go," Gloria waved them off.  "But I want him back by curfew, which is ten pm."

"TEN?" Duke said incredulously.  "What is this, Russia?"

"This is a house with a growing boy who needs his rest.  And so do you," she directed at him.  "No sense in wearing yourself down so quickly.  If the Troubles are just starting, you're going to need your strength as much as he will."

Duke nodded agreement.

"I'm just going to go and check her over, and see what supplies I'll need," he reassured her.  "And then we will come right back.  Right?" he asked Todd, who nodded eagerly.

"We'll come straight back," he promised.

"All right, scalawags," Gloria growled like a pirate.  "But it's ten pm or ye both walk the plank."

Duke and Todd saluted smartly.

"Aye, Aye, Cap'n!" they chorused and laughed.

Gloria tossed Duke the car keys, and after they got situated, Duke backed the car out of the driveway and started down the road for the harbor. 

* * *

 Duke smiled as he saw that The _Cape Rogue_ was still in great condition as he and Todd exited Gloria’s car.

“You really live here?” Todd asked as they came up the gangplank. 

“Never felt more at home,” Duke said as they went inside. 

Just then, he heard a small crash ahead of them.  Duke motioned for Todd to wait while he went ahead, and soon he saw the cause of the noise.

“Jody?”

“Duke . . . I didn’t know you’ll be back so soon,” Jody said, as Charlotte came into view holding her baby.  “I’m sorry . . . please don’t fire me . . .”

“I’m not . . .” Duke said, and signaled Todd to come in.  Jody and Charlotte looked at him.  “This is Todd, he’s family.”

“Hey,” Todd just said.

“Why are you here?” Duke asked Jody.

“This seemed to be the only safe place . . .” Jody began when _The Rouge_ rumbled, and Duke knew what was going to happen next.

“Todd, stay down!” Duke exclaimed, throwing Todd to the floor as lasers shot out from Jody’s body.  He then moved themselves behind some furniture.  “You okay?”

Todd nodded.

“Okay . . . this isn’t so bad . . . at least it isn’t the version Mara did,” Duke said.

“What happened then?” Todd asked, curious.

“Bad time for questions, but Mara altered Jody’s Trouble to emit microwaves,” Duke said as he heard the destruction Jody’s lasers were doing.  “Todd, I want you to take Charlotte and her baby out.  Wait for me in the car.”

“But what are you going to do?” Todd asked.

“Same thing I’ve always done: risk my life to save the Troubled,” Duke said.  “If I’m not down in five minutes, call Nathan or Dwight.  Understand?”

Todd nodded again.

“Okay, she’s going to stop soon,” Duke said, and a minute later, the lasers disappeared, and Jody collapsed.  “There, now go!”

Todd ran over to Charlotte, and escorted her out of the room. 

“Jody?  Stay down, I’m coming over,” Duke said as he slowly stood up and surveyed the damaged.  There were burn marks on the walls and the glass from the potholes were all shattered, covering half the room.  Duke saw a nearby blanket and covered Jody with it.

“I’m going to take you somewhere safe, Jody,” Duke said as he picked her up.  He was about to carry her out, when Todd and Charlotte ran back inside.

“Todd, I—“

“He’s here,” Todd said.  “I mean . . . _it’s_ here.”

Duke gently put Jody down and looked out a porthole.  Pacing around the dock, was the Void.  It looked up at Duke and frowned at him.

“Please tell me it doesn’t have a way to get abroad,” Duke said, not knowing Jody was getting up behind him.

“Charlotte showed me what to do with the gangplank,” Todd said, as Jody looked out a porthole.

“Okay, let’s hope that slows it down,” Duke said.  “Call Nathan and Dwight.”

“What’s wrong with that man?” Jody exclaimed when she saw the Void. 

Duke rushed up to Jody, and pulled her away, accidently brushing her palm against the broken glass.

“Don’t let it see you,” Duke said and saw Jody wincing in pain.  “What happened?”

“I cut my hand,” Jody said and examined her wound. 

No one noticed the drop of blood fall from her palm and landed on Duke’s wrist.  Just as the blood sink into his skin, Duke gasped, and his eyes turned silver, shocking everyone.

“Duke?” Todd cautiously asked.

“It’s all right, Todd,” Duke said, but his tone sounded distant.  He then looked at Jody.  “I know what to do.”

Duke brought Jody closer to him, his lips were partly opened.  He then gently inhaled, and drew in a black mist from Jody’s mouth.  Just as the last of the mist entered Duke’s mouth, his eyes returned to their original color.

“Duke?” Jody questioned.

Duke motioned her to wait and laid out his palm flat.  A small black sphere floated up from his palm and hovered just above his hand.

“What is that?” Charlotte asked.

Todd smiled.  “You did it, Duke!  That’s how you remove Troubles now!  Don’t worry, Charlotte; Duke cured your mom.  You won’t have to worry about that Trouble anymore.”

“I wouldn’t be celebrating yet, Todd,” Duke said, as he studied the Aether in his hand.  “We still have one major problem.”

“What?” Todd asked.

“It,” Duke said, pointing over his shoulder. 

Duke then peered cautiously out of the shattered porthole, and heard the familiar roar of Dwight's Dodge as it sped down the harbor, and the Void took off swiftly.

Duke could also see another vehicle accompanying Dwight's, this one teeming with Guard members.

"Duke?  Duke!" Dwight hollered.  "Are you guys all right on there?"

"Yeah, just a sec," Duke called back.  He looked to Todd.  "Can you and Charlotte fix the gangplank back while I dress Jody's hand?"

"Sure," Todd said.

"And guys?  Don't say anything about what I did just yet, okay?" Duke asked.  "I don't want people to get their hopes up if this Trouble turns south on me.  I don't want what happened last time to happen again."

"But if you don't, they're still going to think you still have to kill someone to take a Trouble," Jody protested.

"I can only do a few at a time," Duke replied.

"How do you know that?" Todd asked.

"That's how my Trouble is now — this time they of kind of come with built-in instructions.  It's instinctual, I guess," Duke said.  “I just know, I can't explain it.  But can you imagine what would happen if everyone in Haven knew how it worked now?"

"They'd overrun you," Todd realized.

"And I might erupt again," Duke said.  "And we don't want that."

"We won't tell," Todd and Charlotte promised.

"We'll just tell the one who can best help us choose who needs curing first – that would be Dwight.  He'll know whose Troubles are extremely dangerous—like Mrs. Ex-Laser-Beam here," he kidded Jody, fetching out his first-aid kit. 

"We won't tell – we promise," Charlotte repeated, and they ran out to put the gangplank up.

Dwight appeared a few moments later as Duke was finishing dressing her hand.

"Hey, Jody," he said, approaching with caution.  "You doing okay?"

"I am now," she smiled.  "Duke helped me."

"Talked you down, huh?" he gave him a grin, as Todd came in.

"Actually, I did a little more than that," Duke replied, and glanced behind him.  "Any of your buddies out there?"

"No, they're all ashore – when I saw Charlotte, we knew Jody must be nearby, so I told everyone else to stay behind till the coast was clear.  Why, what's up?"

Duke showed the black sphere in his palm.

"I-is that AETHER?!" he asked, wide-eyed.

"It is, plus Jody's Trouble," Duke said.

"He pulled that out of me," Jody told him.  "He fixed me."

"But I can't do more than two, MAYBE three in a day," Duke said.  He looked tired, and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Like Moira and Noelle's Trouble," Dwight observed. "Too many could be fatal."

“What are you going to do now?” Jody asked.

“You, Charlotte, and the baby can return home,” Dwight said.  “We’ll keep a few members of the Guard to watch you house just in case . . . it returns.”

Jody smiled grateful at the two men, and hugged Duke.  “Thank you.  I don’t know how it happened, but thank you.”

Duke smiled and hugged her back.  When she left, Dwight and Duke examined the Aether.

“Well . . . now what?” Duke finally asked, as Todd came closer to them, looking at the Aether, as if he was memorized by it.

“Let’s take it to the armory.  Maybe Vince knows what to do with it, plus Troubles don’t work there,” Dwight suggested.   “I should let the others know as well; especially Paige, she’ll be relieved.”

Duke nodded, then saw Todd reaching out for the Aether, and swiftly grabbed the boy’s wrist with his other hand. Todd blinked his eyes and looked at Duke, curious.

“I’ve had enough excitement for one day,” Duke said and let go of Todd’s wrist.  “Let’s go to the car.”

“Okay,” Todd said and looked around.  “Um, Duke?”

“Yes?”

“What are you going to do about the mess?”

"The mess will still be here in the morning.  Let's go."                     

* * *

 “I knew you could do it,” Croatoan said, smiling proudly at Paige.  “Even I never thought of doing something like that.  Your talent is growing, Dove.”

“Thanks, I think,” Paige said and checked on James, who was safe in Todd’s arms.  Nathan, Dwight, and Vince were all looking at the Aether floating above Duke’s palm.  

“You were smart bringing it here,” Vince said.  “The Void can’t sense us or Troubles in here.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Dwight asked.

“Oh, I’ll put it somewhere safe,” Vince said with a knowing smile as he collected the Aether and walked off.  “I’ll be back.”

Duke then walked up to Paige and hugged her.

“Thank you,” Duke said, smiling and kissed her.  “You did it; it worked.”

“How do you feel?” Paige asked as Vince returned.

“Tired, but okay,” Duke said, then looked pensive.  “But there’s something else . . . like I still feel the Trouble within me, but it’s not really there, it’s like . . . seeing a footprint in the snow.”

“I think . . . now you can still access the Trouble,” Paige said, getting everyone’s attention.  “You can just think of it to use it, but it will be temporary and then it'll be out of your system.”

“For good?” Duke asked.

“For . . . I’m not really sure,” Paige admitted.

“Does this mean Duke can shot lasers from his eyes?” Todd excitingly asked after he gave James to Paige.

“If I can, it wouldn’t work in it here,” Duke said, chuckling.  “I could go outside with Croatoan and use him for target practice.”

"Very amusing," Croatoan glared at him, and then stalked back to wherever he dwelled within the Barn.

"Come on, kid," Duke sighed. "Let's go home."

The group departed the Barn, and Dwight called Gloria, explaining what happened.  As they went their separate ways, they promised to meet for breakfast at Haven Joe's the next day.

Duke pulled back into the driveway, where Gloria came out of the front door.

"Did you forget how to tell time since you died?" she demanded, and then relented.  "Dwight called and told me the whole story," she said a little softer. "I'm glad nobody was hurt."

"How are you going to stay on your ship now? It's kind of – shot up," Todd said.

"I have a perfectly good sofa, and he's welcome to use it," Gloria replied.

Todd took off his jacket, as they came inside, and noticed something roll out of the pocket.  Curious, he bent closer to it, and discovered it to be a small black sphere – just like the one Duke had made!

"Hey, Duke, look at this," Todd said, scooping it up to show him.  "It's one of those--"

As he spoke, the sphere seemed to melt into a puddle, and Duke made a grab for it.

"Todd, don't!" he cried out, but his reach was too late as the Aether melted into Todd's outstretched palm.

"What is it?" Gloria cried.

"He picked up an Aether sphere – and it just made itself at home," Duke replied grimly. "Do you feel okay?" he asked.

Todd nodded.  He didn't feel any different; and couldn't see what Duke was making such a fuss about.

"Pigs knuckles loopty-loop jellyfish," Todd said.

"What?" Gloria asked.

Duke groaned and covered his eyes.

"Ohh, no, not the Scoville Trouble!" he moaned.  "Todd, don't pick those things up, kid!"

"Fish pogo bellywasher," Todd got out, as Gloria fought down a grin.

"Well, it's not too dangerous," she said.  "It could've been a lot worse."

"Yeah, it could've," Duke answered.  Todd looked at him expectantly.

"Gumdrop pundit broadcasting carnation," Todd blurted, and Duke shook his head.

"It's all Greek to me, kid," he told him. "I know you're making perfect sense to you, but all we can hear is gibberish," he said kindly.  "And if you're asking can I fix you, the answer is yes, I can.  But it's gonna have to wait for a little while till that other Trouble fades out of my system, so I hope you're good at charades."

Todd looked angry, and scribbled in his notebook furiously, then handed the note to Gloria.

"House shoe flip-flop," she read aloud, and Duke chuckled.

"That doesn't work either," he told him.  "So you're just going to have to live with it till tomorrow."

Once Todd had gotten his bath and dressed for bed, Gloria soon figured out that 'Boysenberry hoopla' was Todd-code for cocoa, and she made him a warm mug of it, while Duke made Gloria, Lincoln and himself Irish coffees.

"Cookie?" she asked him, offering the plate to Todd.

"Undulate fricassee," Todd said, and Gloria chuckled.

"I'm sorry, honey," she said affectionately, rubbing his hair. "I don't mean to laugh.  I'll going to go watch my movie with Linc, and let you two boys . . . talk," she grinned over her shoulder, and departed the kitchen.

Todd looked down at his cocoa as Duke sat down across from him.

"I do know a little something about this particular Trouble," he told him, getting Todd’s attention. "When Mara had taken over Audrey – I had to release a Trouble, to alleviate the pressure of them inside of me, or I would have died."

Todd looked astonished, but said nothing.

"The Trouble I released was the Scoville Trouble," Duke went on.  "Nathan and I figured out that it was triggered by guilty feelings, because Mr. Scoville had been overcome with guilt for not being able to prevent a maritime accident."

Todd looked at him questioningly, wishing he could still communicate with Duke telepathically.

"Riboflavin lockjaw?" Todd asked.

"I realized that the Trouble was sticking to me, because I felt guilty," Duke told him, gazing at Todd.  "I felt guilty because I'd promised Jennifer I would keep her safe – and I didn't.  It wasn't my fault – it wasn't anyone's – it just happened," he finished softly.  “Is that what's going on, bud?  You feel guilty about your folks, maybe?"

Todd blinked his eyes hard, and Duke put a hand on his.

"Todd, that was _not_ your fault," he said firmly. “None of what happened to them was your fault in any way.  Okay?" he smiled.

"Googly-eyed grizzly bear," Todd answered, and Duke shook his head.

"We'll work on curing you tomorrow," he promised.  "First thing.  But stop feeling guilty – that'll go a long way in getting rid of that Trouble."

Todd nodded his head.

"Poker bat," he answered, finishing his cocoa and rinsing out his mug.  "Dropsy flimflam doorknob," he yawned.

"Dropsy flimflam, Todd," Duke grinned, giving his shoulder a playful nudge, and got Todd to smile.  "See you in the morning."

Todd nodded again, and crawled into bed.

"Fish-face wonky wall," he sighed, and fell asleep.


	8. Shine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Very special thanks to TRDowden1 for helping me! I couldn’t have done it without you!

 Ch. 8: Shine

Duke awoke on the sofa and got dress in the clothes Vince created for him, making a note to ask Gloria where she placed his stuff in storage.  He soon found Gloria working on her computer.

“Busy this early?” Duke asked, poking his head in, getting her attention.

“Well, good morning to you, too,” Gloria responded.  “Remember how I checked Todd and you when we got home?  Well, I had to check your DNA; just got the results.”

“This fast?  Who did you blackmail?” Duke asked, making Gloria smile.

“Just as I feared, the DNA marker for Troubles is back,” Gloria said, reading over the results.  “However, the tests do show that Todd and you are related.”

“Well, that’s good,” Duke said.  “So, what’s the bad news?  There is always bad news in Haven with the Troubles.”

Gloria sighed.  “The bad news is that Todd also has the DNA marker for Troubles.”

Duke sighed and ran his hand through his hair.   “Maybe I can remove his Trouble when I remove the Scoville one.”

Just then, Todd ran into the room, holding his phone, looking completely panicked.

“Bananas dishwasher letters manners!” Todd exclaimed and handed Duke his phone.  “Neutrino!  Neutrino!”

“Um, hello?” Duke asked as he answered Todd’s phone.

“Hello?  Who is this?” Bridget asked.

“This is Duke, Todd’s cousin,” Duke answered.

“Is Todd available?  He hasn’t answered any calls.  Is he okay?” Bridget asked.

“Um, not really; he has a bad case of laryngitis,” Duke said.  “He really can’t talk.”

“Oh, that’s terrible,” Bridget said.  “But why hasn’t he responded to any texts?”      

"Todd was helping me load stuff on my boat and he took a tumble in the ocean," Duke answered so smoothly it sounded like the gospel truth, and Todd couldn't help but be a little impressed.  "His phone was toast after that.  I'm letting him use one of my old ones, but the keypad's messed up, so everything comes out garbled," he winked at Todd.

"Well, that explains the goofy text message," Bridget replied.

"What did it say?"

"Indigo marshmallow yawning Wolfenhamsterien," she told him, and Duke bit down a laugh.

"I think he was trying to tell you that he's doing all right," he said, glancing at Todd, who nodded vigorously.  "I told him the keypad was messed up –it's stuck on auto-correct."

"Is he _really_ okay?" Bridget asked, her tone concerned.

"Yes, he's fine—other than the laryngitis.  I'm taking him to get a new phone later this morning, so you should be hearing from him really soon," Duke finished.  "Do you have any messages you would like to pass on?"

"Wigwam fruitcake toaster flytrap: that means don't stand so close to the edge next time," Bridget giggled, and Duke chuckled.

"I will pass it on," he promised.

"And that . . . I miss him.  A lot."

"I know he misses you too a lot," Duke said kindly.  "Bye now."

"Bye," Bridget finished, and hung up.

Duke hung up and gave Todd his phone back as he looked at him.

"The trick in telling a good lie—especially to women," he began, “is one, make it believable, two, keep your voice even and smooth—if you stutter or stammer you're done for, and three, sprinkle in a little of the truth here and there," Duke lectured, ticking them off on his fingers.

"And FOUR, don't even try it with the Great and Powerful Gloria, because she knows all and can even see through Mr. Crocker's level of skill," Gloria added in, giving Duke a dirty look, who shrugged, and nodded.  She looked at him.  "I'd forgotten you lied so well.  I almost believed you –and I know the truth!"

"Learned from the best," Duke winked, and earned a kiss on the cheek from Gloria.

"In Haven, you have to be skilled at lying," Gloria remarked to Todd.  "Not that we want you to cultivate the habit, but--"

"Too much weird stuff happens around here and we don't want the normals to find out about us," Duke finished.  "People don't understand the supernatural, the unexplained, and who can explain the Troubles?"

"Speaking of which," Gloria spoke, drawing a chair out and patting it.  "Don't you think it's about time you put him back to rights?" she asked Duke, who nodded agreement.  "Have a seat, kiddo."

Duke got out another chair for Todd and they both sat down.  Gloria then got out a clean needle and pricked Todd’s finger.  Todd let a drop of his blood land on Duke’s opened hand and it absorbed into his skin.  Gloria’s eyes grew wide as she saw Duke’s eyes turn silver.  Duke leaned close to Todd and inhaled deeply, drawing in the black mist from Todd’s mouth.  Todd closed his mouth as the Aether sphere materialized in Duke’s hand.

“You okay?” Gloria asked Duke as his eyes returned to his regular color.  Duke nodded back.  Gloria then looked at Todd.  “How about you?”

“Better than last night,” Todd said, hopefully looking at the adults.

“We can understand you perfectly,” Gloria said, and they all smiled.

“That was humiliating,” Todd said as Gloria bandaged his cut.  “Being hit with Troubles twice in a row.”

“You’re new in Haven; in time you’ll be an expert like us and only be hit by Troubles twice a week,” Duke said, grinning, making Todd smile.  He then noticed Todd staring at the Aether with an entranced look again.  “How about you get dress?  We’ll drop this off at the armory before we get to Haven’s Joe.”

Todd agreed and left.  Duke got up and Gloria looked at him.

“Well?” she asked.

“I couldn’t do it, Gloria, he still has his Trouble,” Duke said and sighed.

* * *

“And you just found this in your pocket?” Vince asked, once the Aether was in his hand and Todd nodded back.

“Wonder where it came from,” Duke said, glaring at Croatoan.

“Why are you blaming me?” Croatoan asked.

"Do you want me to list them alphabetically or just give you the Top Five?" Duke responded.

“Now wait a minute,” Vince said.  “You said the Void was there yesterday, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then it could be responsible,” Vince said.   “Probably using humans’ sense of curiosity to spread Troubles.”

“I’ll let the others know,” Duke said and looked at Todd.  “Ready for breakfast?”

“Yeah, I’m starving,” Todd said.

“Oh, and Todd?” Duke said.

“Remember: wait a day or two before calling your friends back, and wait for a few more hours before texting them.”

“Got it!”

* * *

“So you got hit with the old Scoville Trouble, eh?" Dwight grinned at Todd, who ducked his head, shuffling.  "I bet that was fun.  We couldn't understand anything Duke said when he had it."

"Yes, and it was fun watching you try to wag around Gloria's purse when you switched out with her too," Nathan said, and Todd had to cover his mouth to keep from spraying the table down with milk, and Nathan repressed a grin. "Carried that thing like it had a live grenade in it."

"We agreed never to mention that again," Dwight growled out of the side of his mouth.

Todd was wildly curious about it, but he could see from the look on Dwight's expression that it wouldn't be wise to pursue it, and resolved to ask Duke about it later on.  It was probably connected to the dream where Dirk and Noel switched bodies.

"What are your plans for today, Duke?" Paige asked.

"Well, I figured I'd get re-situated on the Rouge this morning," Duke answered.  "There was that . . . mishap, so I have to get Tom Halleck to come in and replace the porthole glass in the living room and galley, plus get my stuff out of storage."

"Who knew coming back from the dead involved so much work?" Nathan smiled, but there was no malice in it.  "You need some help?"

"Nah, I got my junior first mate to help me out, thanks," Duke replied, winking at Todd.  "And then I figured we'd take her out for a spin."

"Sounds good," Paige smiled.  "Oh, Dwight—did you get all that information on the Junior Hunter program so I can get it in the _Herald_?"

"Yeah, it's in the truck, I'll get it before we leave," Dwight promised.

"So you run the _Herald_ , Paige?" Duke asked.  "It still feels kind of strange that Vince and Dave aren't there anymore.  Seemed as though they'd be there forever . . . bickering."

"Yeah," Nathan said softly.  "All those gas-leak stories."

"And yet people believed it," Duke remarked.

"Easier than facing the reality," Dwight answered, and Duke flinched visibly.

"But we are not going to let things get so out of control this time," Gloria put in sternly.  "No more secrets, no more cover-ups or lying, right?"

"Right," the table chorused and toasted.

Joe brought over the bill, and after some good-natured quibbling, the little party paid up and went their separate ways.

Duke stopped by Halleck's Glassworks and made arrangements to have the porthole glass repaired, followed by a stop at the grocer’s, the department store,  and Bill McShaw’s place.  Todd and Duke returned to the _Cape Rouge_ , laden down with buckets, mops and brooms.

Tom Halleck showed up an hour after they got there, and set to work expertly repairing the porthole glass while Duke swept up the broken glass and put Todd to dusting.

Todd couldn't help but notice Duke had extra room, and resolved to ask if he could stay over tonight, if they had everything put back to where Duke wanted it.

They stopped for lunch, and Duke made them sandwiches from the supplies he'd picked up at the grocery store, along with sea-salt potato chips, dill pickles and soda.

"Thanks for the grub, Duke," Halleck said through his last mouthful of sandwich.  "Just let it set up overnight, and she should be as right as rain tomorrow morning."

"You're welcome for the grub and thanks for getting out here so quick," Duke answered, shaking hands with him.

"Not a problem," Halleck grinned.  "Glad ta see you home again."

"Nice to be home again," Duke smiled.  "I'll walk you out.  Todd—break's over," he directed.  "If you'll break down those cardboard boxes we can get them out to the recycling bins."

"Okay," Todd said, finishing his own sandwich.

Duke walked out with Tom to his truck.

"How's things in Haven?" he asked.

"Some folk are feeling kinda nervous," Tom replied.  "Been seein' Guard people roaming around again. They know what that means."

"Well, hopefully things won't go so far as last time," Duke said.

"Mebbe so," Tom answered, getting into his truck and closing the door.  "Be seeing you, Duke," he finished, starting it up.

"Be seeing you," Duke waved as Tom drove off.  He turned to go back onto the ship, and noticed something on the ground.  It was small and black, and he knew it in an instant.

" _Another_ Aether sphere?" he asked no one.  If the Void was going to be leaving these all over Haven, they were going to have a _very_ big problem on their hands in a hurry.

Todd emerged onto the deck, his arms full of cardboard boxes as Duke bent down to retrieve the Aether ball.

"Where's the recycling bin?" he asked just as Duke closed his fingers around it.

"Todd-" Duke began to say, and then suddenly the world shifted around him, and he wondered why his clothes felt so baggy, while Todd wondered why his had suddenly gotten so tight.  He dropped the cardboard boxes as he felt his shoes split, and he looked down at himself to see that he was suddenly taller.  He looked back up to see a kid in Duke's clothes gawping back at him, and it struck him that Duke had looked a lot like Todd when he was younger.

"Duke?" he asked, shocked at deep his voice was now.

The kid nodded, and hurried back towards the _Rouge_.

"What happened to us, Duke?" the now-adult Todd asked, anxious.

"I found one of the Aether spheres on the ground," Duke said.  "I bent to pick it up, and . . . this happened," he finished.  "Here, let's get inside," he directed.

"If I can walk," Todd winced.

"Yeah, try not to rip those, it looks like I'm going to need them," Duke answered.

Todd took off his shoes and followed Duke.  When he was inside, Todd examined himself in the mirror.  He resembled adult Duke a good deal, minus the mustache and goatee.  His dark hair curled around his face, reminding Duke of how his hair was when he first met Audrey.  Todd looked at his hands, his arms, well-defined and muscled.

Duke peeled off his plaid shirt, his tank top bagging over a spindly body.  He still bore his tattoos, and he looked back at Todd as they switched out clothing.

"Can you fix this?" Todd asked, once they were dressed.

"I don’t know," Duke sighed.  "I don’t know how to remove Troubles from myself that came from Aether spheres or if I can."

Todd looked ashamed, and Duke reached up to put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, kid," Duke told him.  "We'll get through this—but right now, we need to figure out what to do."

Todd then got an idea.  “Paige said she now remembers what Mara knows, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe she knows how to fix . . . or reverse this.”

“That’s not a bad idea; let’s get going,” Duke said and looked for his phone, but couldn’t find it.  With help from Todd, he retraced his steps and found his phone around where he found the Aether sphere.

A beautiful blonde blue-eyed woman was walking towards the _Rouge._   Duke recognized her as Mandy Hargenson, one of the assistants to the harbor manager.  Mandy liked to flirt with Duke, but the feeling wasn’t mutual, still Duke tolerated her attempts.  Mandy stopped in front of Todd, looking him over.

“May I help you?” Todd asked, trying to hide his confusion.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were Duke Crocker,” Mandy said, smiling at him.

“I’m his cousin, Todd Beale-Grant,” Todd said and saw Mandy noticed 13-year-old Duke.  “And this is my . . . little brother, Dirk.”

_‘Nice job, kid,’_ Duke thought, impressed on how fast Todd thought up a cover story.

“I’m Mandy Hargenson,” Mandy said and she and Todd shook hands.  “I work with the harbor manager.  Is Duke around?”   

“He, uh, had a few errands,” Todd said.  “We’re helping him clean up _The Cape Rouge_.”

“Well, if you see him, let him know Mandy came by,” Mandy said and stepped closer to Todd, and smiled flirtatiously at him.  “Maybe we’ll get to see each other again.”

“Yeah . . . maybe.”

“Are you here long?”

“Maybe . . .”

Mandy giggled.  “You’re silly, and hot.  I like that.”

“What?”

Mandy fluttered her eyelashes at him.  “If you’re free later, we can grab a beer.”

“Ew!  Gross!” Todd exclaimed, disgusted and repulsed, taking a step back away from her.  “I don’t date older women!”

“Excuse me?” Mandy asked completely bewildered.

“You’re old enough to be my teacher!” Todd said.

Dirk, or rather, Duke, kicked Todd in the shins.

"He's just teasing you," he spoke.

"Kinda harsh teasing," Mandy glared before she flipped her hair and stalked off.

"Do you _like_ her?" Todd whispered to Duke when she was gone.

"Not really," Duke muttered.  "I don't mind a little flirtation, but she's about as subtle as an aircraft carrier in a bathtub." He looked up at Todd.  "Have you really never tried a beer?"

"No," Todd protested, "I'm underage."

"I had by the time I was thirteen," Duke remarked.  " _Not_ that I am condoning underage drinking.  But my childhood was definitely a lot worse than yours."

"If we don't fix this soon, you might get to live it again," Todd told him, and Duke gulped at the thought of going through junior high and high school all over again.

Duke dialed the _Haven Herald_.

" _Haven Herald_ ," they heard Paige say.

"Aud—Paige!  Can you please get out to the _Cape Rouge_ on the double, please?" Duke asked.

"I can't just now—is . . . is this Todd?  Why are you calling from Duke's phone, where's Duke?"

"I am Duke," Duke sighed.  "There's a Trouble."

"It sounds like it," Paige remarked.  "I really can't leave right now, Duke.  Can you get over here, somehow?"

"I guess so," Duke said, eyeing the truck he'd persuaded Bill McShaw to sell back to him earlier.  "It'll be just a minute, though."

"All right," Paige answered.  "I'll be here.  Be careful, Duke."

"I will," Duke said, and hung up.  He looked back to Todd.

"You're about to get a crash course in Driver's Ed," he told him.

"Me?  Why do I have to drive?" Todd blurted, wild-eyed.

Duke gestured at himself, and Todd nodded agreement, but looked worried.

"I've never even started a car, Duke, much less driven one," he confessed.

"Well, today's the day," Duke said cheerfully.  "Don't worry, I'll be right beside you telling you what to do."  He looked worried himself.  "Kinda wish I was back in your head right now."

"I wish you were too," Todd cracked.  "Is it _always_ like this in Haven?"

"No," Duke sighed.  "Sometimes, it's much, much worse."

* * *

Paige looked up from her work when she heard the screeching breaks of a car.  A minute later, Duke . . . no, he wasn’t Duke . . . and a boy who looked like Todd came in.

“Duke?” Paige asked, and the boy raised his hand.  “So . . . Todd?”

The man nodded.  Paige smiled.

“Yes, I know it’s funny seeing me at 13,” Duke said.

“It’s not that,” Paige said.  “I had a feeling you’d be handsome when you grew up, Todd.  I thought you might inherit Duke’s looks.”

“Um, thanks?” Todd said, blushing a little.

“Okay, how did this happen?” Paige asked.

“I was seeing Tom Halleck off, when I noticed an Aether sphere lying around,” Duke said.  “When I touched it . . .  this happened. Todd thought you might know what kind of Trouble this is.”

Paige stepped closer to Todd and Duke and examined them.

“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize it,” Paige said.  “William or Croatoan must have created it.  Since William is not available, the only one who we can talk to is . . .”

“Croatoan,” Duke said, and groaned.

“I’m sorry, Duke, but it’s the only thing I can think of,” Paige said. 

“Okay, are you free?” Duke asked.

“In a few minutes; why?” Paige asked.

“We need a ride to the armory,” Duke said.  “The sooner we get this Trouble solved, the sooner I can get a drink.”

* * *

Since Troubles did not work in the armory, Todd and Duke immediately reverted to their proper ages upon entering.

"Vincent, the Trouble MUST be active, or I cannot properly remove it," Croatoan toned imperiously after he heard what happened.

Reluctantly, Vince weakened one area of the armory so that the Trouble returned; and Croatoan could not keep the smile from his face as Duke and Todd  switched ages once more.

"Excuse me a moment," he choked and walked off.

"I'm _so_ glad he's enjoying this because I'm not," Duke snarled, and looked at Paige.  “How long has it been?”

“It’s been five minutes,” Paige said, checking her watch.

“How can a man laugh for five minutes?” Todd asked.

Soon Croatoan came back, wiping his eyes, trying not to chuckle.

“Are you done?” Duke said.

“Just give me a minute, I need to remember this when to cheer me up when I’m down,” Croatoan said, and looked at Todd and Duke.  He then burst out laughing.

“Please . . . Dad, can you remove the Aether?” Paige kindly asked.

“With your help I can,” Croatoan said, offering his hand.  Paige looked at Croatoan, then accepted his hand.  “Just one thing I ask in return . . .”

“Not this again,” Vince said.

“It’s not what you think,” Croatoan said and looked at Duke.  “"Duke needs to answer a question.  It is apparent to me you would rather live with this Trouble than have to come here to me for help to solve it, so why are you here?"

Duke sighed before he spoke.  “You’re right; I would rather have to live through a second childhood than ask you for help.”  He then looked at Todd.  “But this isn’t right for Todd.  He deserves to have fun as a kid.  I’m not going to let him suffer just because of me.”

“I’m impressed,” Croatoan said and looked at Paige.  “Just do what I do and concentrate.  You’ll know what to do.”

Croatoan and Paige raised a hand.  Duke began growing as Todd shrunk, and soon they were back at their respectable ages.  Duke and Todd checked themselves. 

“Duke, it w—whoa!” Todd said, tripping in Duke’s shoes, which were now too big for him, but Duke caught him, and helped him stand up.

“Take off the shoes, let’s change,” Duke said, smiling at Todd.  Todd nodded back as he and Duke took off their shoes and went somewhere private to switch clothes.   Later they returned wearing their own clothes.

“What happened to the Aether?” Todd asked.

“I absorbed it,” Croatoan stated and everyone stared at him.

“Well, he’s in here and the armory still shields him from the Void,” Vince said.  “He can’t do anything.”

“Thanks for the help, Paige,” Duke said.

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Croatoan asked.

“Thanks for keeping him locked up, Vince,” Duke said.

“Um, thank you for fixing us,” Todd said, looking at Croatoan.

“Better,” Croatoan said, then looked at Duke.  “Don’t you have anything to say?”

“What he said,” Duke said, indicating Todd, then walked over to him, looking over his ruined shoes.  “Let’s buy you some new shoes.”

Todd smiled and thanked Duke before they walked out.  Croatoan was about to stop them, but Paige spoke.

“Trust me, for someone like you, that’s the best you’re going to get having Duke Crocker thanking you,” Paige said.

* * *

After Duke got his truck, he took Todd shoe shopping and brought two pairs of shoes for Todd, one for him to wear now and another pair for ‘Trouble emergencies.’

Just as they were about to drive back, Duke’s phone rang, and he saw it was Nathan.

“Nathan?” Duke asked when he answered and he heard screaming in the background.

“Duke!  Is it possible for you to remove a Trouble?” Nathan asked.

“Uh, yeah, what’s going on?” Duke asked.

“The Void somehow gave Jackie Clark her Trouble back and I think it somehow amplified her Trouble,” Nathan said.  “She’s scared and we’re scared; Paige is on her way, but by then it may be too late.”

“What do you mean ‘too late’?” Duke asked.

“The Void’s here as well,” Nathan said.  “It’s trying to collect Jackie’s energized Aether.”

“Which is going to kill her,” Duke said.  “Okay, Nathan, I’ll be there.  Just do your best in keeping the Void away from Jackie.”

Nathan agreed and gave him the location before they both hung up.

“What’s going on, Duke?” Todd asked.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Duke said and started his truck.

* * *

Duke stopped when he saw the police and members of the Guard shielded behind cars, and the damage all across the street.

“Todd, stay in here,” Duke said.  “Remember what I said about Jackie’s Trouble: if you look at her, you see your worst fear.”

Todd nodded.  “What about you, Duke?”

“I already faced my worst fear,” Duke said, then bitterly added, “and died.”

Duke exited the vehicle and walked ahead.  The police inform Duke that Jackie was hiding behind one of the cars ahead of him and Duke stepped forward.

“Jackie,” Duke called out as he walked.  “It’s Duke Crocker, remember me?  It must be confusing having your Trouble back plus being chased by a creepy-looking man, but I can help, Jackie.  Don’t worry; I don’t think I’ll be affected.”

Someone did walk towards Duke, but what he saw wasn’t Jackie.

“What’s the matter, Duke?” the black-eyed version of himself said, coming closing.  “Don’t you like seeing what you really are?”

Duke found himself taking a step back as his other self changed into a black-eyed version of Roy Crocker.

“You’re a Crocker!  Embrace what you truly are!” Roy said and changed into Simon.

“We kill, we have to accept we are killers,” Simon said.  “Who wants to be friends with a killer?  Who wants to _love_ a killer?”

Simon then changed into Wade.  “Why are you running away?  Don’t you love it?  The rush, the high, the power?”

Wade changed back into Duke.  “So stop denying who you truly are.” 

Duke suddenly found himself unable to stand and fell the ground.

“Duke,” Paige’s voice said, as she came into his line of sight, blocking him from seeing the other version of himself.  “I’m still immune to Jackie’s Trouble.  What do you need to do to remove her Trouble?”

“I need contact with her blood,” Duke said as he took out his knife and handed it to Paige, then closed his eyes.  “After that, bring her close to me.”

Paige nodded.  Duke felt his altered Trouble activate and found himself guided to Jackie and drew out her Trouble; he could hear Paige gasping, seeing his Trouble in action for the first time.  Duke opened his now silver eyes as the last of the Aether entered his mouth.  Duke’s eyes returned to his normal color as the Aether sphere materialized in the palm of his hand.  He looked at Jackie and smiled.

“Good to see you again, Jackie,” he said.

Before Jackie could respond, they heard an inhuman roar.  The Void pushed Paige and Jackie aside and lifted up Duke by one arm.  Duke knew what the Void wanted and threw the Aether away.  The Void roared again and tossed Duke over to the other side.

“Duke!” Duke could somehow hear Todd over the shots being fired and he hoped Dwight wasn’t nearby.  He then felt himself being turned over and focus his eyes on Todd.

“I’ll yell at you later,” Duke said as Todd helped him sit up.  “The Aether . . . we need to find it before the Void does.”

“I saw it, it’s under that tree,” Todd said and went to get it.

“Todd, don’t—“ Duke said as he reached out and grabbed Todd’s arm.

Duke didn’t realize that his cheek was cut, and a drop of blood fell from the cut and landed on Todd’s hand.  Duke’s eyes grew wide as he saw the blood sink into Todd’s skin and Todd’s body grew tense.  Todd then turned around and faced Duke, who let go of him when he saw Todd.  Todd’s eyes weren’t silver or black; they were _glowing,_ shining with light, like looking at stars.

Todd looked calm as he went over to the Aether sphere and picked it up.   The Aether sphere floated in between his hands as they began to glow with the same light as his eyes, only not as brightly.  The blackness of the Aether seemed to dissipate from the sphere until it looked as though there was a bubble floating between his hands.

The light of Todd's hands faded as his eyes returned to normal.

Todd looked up at Duke before he dropped to his knees and the bubble fell to the ground, actually bouncing away a bit, like a ball.

“Todd!” Duke exclaimed, and rushed over to his side, momentarily forgetting the Aether sphere.  “Hey, hey, what happened?  You okay?”

“I feel sick,” Todd groaned out.

They then heard a crash and saw the Void toss aside a car to get at the Aether.  The Void picked up the Aether and studied it.  It then frowned and let out an angry inhuman howl before it threw the Aether away.  They then heard Jackie scream.  The Void glared at Duke and Todd, then a thinny appeared behind it, and the Void stepped inside, then both vanished.

“Duke!” Nathan called out.

“Over here!” Duke responded and looked at Todd.  “Can you stand?”

“I think so.”

Duke helped Todd to his feet and they both stood up.  Nathan walked up to them, escorting Jackie, who was crying as she covered her eyes.

“I saw . . . something land in Jackie,” Nathan said.  “It didn’t look quite like Aether, but we don’t want to take any chances.”

Duke nodded, understanding.  “Paige still has my knife.”

“I’ll get her,” Nathan said, then looked at Jackie.  “Jackie, I’m leaving you with Duke, okay?”

Jackie nodded and Nathan started to walk off.  However, Todd still felt light-headed and stumbled forward, crashing into Jackie, causing her to look at him, making Nathan stop.

“Sorry, I--“ Todd apologized as he looked at Jackie, then frowned in confusion.  “Bridget?”  Todd then blinked.  “Sorry; for a moment you looked like a girl that I like.”

“Audrey?” Nathan asked as he looked at Jackie.

Duke was confused as well; Gloria was standing where Jackie stood.

“What’s going on?” Jackie asked as the guys saw her again.

“I think you’re cured . . . kind of,” Duke finally said.  “We just don’t see our worst fear anymore, we see something . . . nicer.”

“Just stay with the Guard until we figure out how,” Nathan said, giving Duke a look.

* * *

“So instead of seeing your worst fear, you saw what you love the most?” Croatoan reviewed.  “And this happened after the girl had the Aether sphere enter her again?  The one Todd . . . changed?”

“And this happened because Duke’s blood landed on you?” Vince asked.

“Like the original Crocker Trouble,” Duke said and looked at Todd.  “But I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“I’m sorry, but this is something Mara doesn’t even know,” Paige said.

“Well, I have a theory,” Croatoan said, getting everyone’s attention.  “But we have to recreate the scenario.”

“Meaning what?” Nathan asked.

“A Trouble must be taken out and given to the boy,” Croatoan said.  “However, bring the Aether he changed back here so I can study it.”

“You want us to find a Trouble person, take it out, give it to Todd, see what happens, then come back here with the results?” Duke asked, staring incredulously at Croatoan. 

“You have a town full of subjects to choose from,” Croatoan responded.

* * *

“You sure this is what you want to do?” Nathan asked as he, Paige, Dwight, Duke and Todd watched Beatrice Mitchell looking out at the sea.  “I mean I could—“

“Someone still needs to save Haven, and you have a pretty good track record,” Duke said, looking at Nathan.

“Just signal us if anything goes wrong,” Paige said.

Duke nodded and he and Todd walked up to Beatrice, who soon saw them.

“Duke, I didn’t expect you,” Beatrice said.  “Is something wrong?”

“Beatrice, this is Todd, a relative of mine,” Duke said and Todd waved at her.  “We need to . . . try something out and we need your help, and if this works . . . it could help all of us.”

“Very well, what is it?” Beatrice asked.

Todd stepped forward and held Beatrice’s hand.  He closed his eyes and concentrated.  He then looked up at Duke.

“Not working?” Duke asked and Todd nodded. 

“What are you trying to do?” Beatrice asked.

Duke glanced around.  “We can remove your Trouble, but Todd’s way is different than mine.  We’re still seeing how Todd does it.”

Duke could see the excitement in Beatrice’s eyes. 

“So what do we do next?” she asked.

“We need to try it with your blood,” Duke said and took out his knife.  Beatrice understood and held out her hand.  Duke cut her palm and let the blood land on Todd’s hand.  Nothing happened.  Duke sighed.  “My turn now.”

Todd moved aside to allow Beatrice’s blood land on Duke’s hand.  Beatrice gasped seeing Duke’s eyes turn silver and he leaned in close to her, drawing out the black mist.   As Beatrice bandaged her hand, the Aether sphere materialized in Duke’s palm.

Duke carefully handed the Aether to Todd.  As soon as he touched it, his eyes glowed brightly and shone with light, his hands mirroring the glow of his eyes as the Aether sphere floated in between his palms.  Beatrice watched on with awe as the blackness was vaporized from the sphere.  Todd’s and Duke’s eyes then returned to normal and they both collapsed.  Their friends ran to them.

“Duke, say something,” Nathan said, helping Duke sit up.

“Ugh.  I am old?  I sure feel old,” Duke asked.

“No, you looked annoyed with everyone,” Nathan said.

“Still, find a wheelchair; my legs feel weak,” Duke said, then looked around.  “Todd?”

“Here,” Todd weakly said.  “Is it time for bed?”

“Let me help,” Dwight said and carried Todd in his arms, while Nathan allowed Duke to lean on him.

“Where’s the Aether?” Duke asked.

“I have it,” Paige said, as she held the bubble in her hands.  “Let’s take it back.”

* * *

“Incredible,” Croatoan said as he looked at the Aether Todd changed.  “Simply incredible; this is a scientific breakthrough.”

“What is it?” Paige kindly asked, before Duke could make a rude comment.

“Water will be a good analogy,” Croatoan said.  “Would you drink water from a muddy river?  Unless you’re desperate, absolutely not; the water needs to cleanse, purify, and filter before it’s suitable for drinking.  What we have here is Aether without all the dangers.”

“You mean . . . that’s Todd’s Trouble?  He can purify Aether?” Duke asked as everyone looked at him.

“I can?” Todd asked.

“Yes, you can,” Croatoan said.  “So this is what happens when nature takes over and a Trouble is allowed to mutate.  Purifying Aether was never possible in my world; no one ever dreamed of attempting it.  One of my friends used to say he was scientist, not a miracle-worker, while another friend said it was not logical . . . I miss them . . . they kept me . . . sane.”

“What happened to Jackie?” Nathan asked.

“Well, since purified Aether is the opposite of Aether, it makes sense you get the opposite response,” Croatoan said.

“Instead of a Trouble you get something . . . beneficial?” Dwight asked.

“Or benign,” Croatoan said.

“Better let Jackie know,” Dwight reminded himself.

“Duke . . . you said the Void didn’t like the purified Aether?” Vince questioned.

“It looked disgusted,” Duke said.

“Hmm, we can use this to our advantage,” Vince stated, getting everyone’s attention.  “Since the Void needs energized Aether to get stronger, we can use purified Aether to weaken it.”

“Yeah, but let’s keep that as ‘Plan B,’” Duke replied.  Vince looked at Todd sympathetically; the boy looked as though he were barely able to keep his eyes open.

“Oh, yes, of course,” Vince soothed.  “It also appears the Void needs to retreat back into its own world to recharge itself, like a bee needs to return to its hive.”

“This explains why it hasn’t been killing people every day,” Nathan surmised.

“So what do we do with this?” Paige asked, looking at the purified Aether.

“You can keep it with me,” Croatoan suggested. 

“I know you can’t do anything with it, but I still don’t like it,” Duke told him.

“Well, what can you do with it?  Give it back to that woman?” Croatoan shot back.

“Alter herself,” Todd mumbled, but Duke heard him, and walked up to Todd.

"What was that, Todd?" Duke asked gently.

“That’s what going to happen if that Aether is given back to her, she can alter her appearance, change the way she looks,” Todd said.

“How do you know that?” Nathan asked.

“I’m not really sure . .  . it’s like what Duke said: it’s instinctual,” Todd yawned, looking at Duke.  “Like I knew what to do after Duke’s blood landed on me.”

“What do you want to do, Duke?” Paige asked.

“I’ll give it to the only one I can trust with purified Aether,” Duke said and picked it up and gave it to Todd.

“Thanks, Duke,” Todd said, humbled by Duke’s trust in him.

"Let's get back to Gloria's," Duke smiled at Todd, knowing how tired he was himself.  "We both need a rest."

* * *

The Void was furious.  It did not like to be hindered.  So the Void thought and created a new plan.  It created a thinny at the beach and searched, till it found what it was looking for: a white scarf.


	9. The Lady Wore Ruin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Thanks goes to TRDowden1 for helping me when I was lost.

 

Ch. 9: The Lady Wore Ruin

Gloria entered the family room and saw that Todd and Duke had both fallen asleep while watching a Hanna-Barbera marathon.  She sighed as she turned off the television and draped a blanket over each  of them.

In the past few days, besides Vince naming ‘purified Aether’ as ‘Pellucid Aether,’ and ‘purified Troubles’ as ‘Favors,’  Duke had been busy removing Aether from people who had dangerous Troubles while Todd purified some of the Aether.  Among the many they helped were Vickie, who now had control over the power of her drawings.  Robert Taylor and Jeanine returned to Haven when the Troubles were gone, but since they were back, Robert locked himself inside the house, fearing what his Trouble might do.  When Duke found out they were back, he and Todd visited him and Jeanine.  Duke removed both of their Troubles and Todd purified them.  Robert declined to have his Favor returned, even though Todd said he could now make old animals young again.  However, when they heard Jeanine could now make any food taste like cake, Robert came up with the idea of starting a business helping kids eat healthy foods.  Gloria thought it would be prudent to double check on Aaron to see if the Void had returned his Trouble.  She was saddened when she saw Duke draw out the black mist from Aaron’s mouth, but glad he removed the Trouble and Todd purified it.

“Just keep it, kid,” Gloria spoke up before Todd could even say what the Favor could do now.  “I have enough to worry about now, and having a superpower baby will not help.”

So Todd kept the Pellucid Aether, wherever he hid it.  Duke and Gloria never asked about where he kept it, just to be cautious.

They did their best to keep Todd’s ability a secret. But it was evident that purifying Aether was taking its toll on Todd’s health.  Once, after Todd had purified Bill McShaw’s Trouble (Bill now had the power to keep food fresh), he started coughing, and spat out blood.  Gloria immediately ordered Todd to bed afterwards.   

Todd would start attending East Haven Middle School on Monday, and Gloria didn’t want to have to explain to the staff why Todd seemed so sick.  Still, everyone knew having Duke and Todd removing and purifying Aether was the only thing preventing the Void from taking over, and Duke and Todd did their best, despite the apparent downside.

Gloria was about to leave the room, when Duke stirred and woke up, seeing her, and then noticed Todd still asleep.  Duke carefully got up and went over to Gloria.

“Hey,” he said in a soft voice.

“How are you doing?” Gloria asked.

“Better,” Duke said.

“I hope he’s doing better,” Gloria said, indicating Todd.

“Poor kid,” Duke commented.  “He just wants to help.”

“Well, the help stops right now,” Gloria said, making Duke look at her.  “Every Trouble has a downside, and a person has to be stupid to not see what Todd’s Trouble is doing to him!”

“Hey, you get no argument from me,” Duke said.  “Call me selfish, but Todd’s health takes priority over Haven’s safety.”

“Is your club taking accepting new members?” Gloria asked and Duke smiled.

“Just make sure he gets to school,” Duke said.  “I can remove the Troubles by myself then take the Aether back to the armory, plus I can take care of myself better.”

“You better,” Gloria said.  “I don’t want to worry over the two of you again.”

* * *

Todd’s transition to East Haven Middle School went fairly well, even though he had a hard time staying awake in class because he still felt exhausted from purifying Aether.  Luckily, the only subject had to worry about was science and his science partner, Wilbur Streeter, was a genius and helped him catch up.  Wilbur looked like the archetype nerd: He was small and thin, with thick glasses, slicked-down hair, and pens sticking out of his shirt pocket.

“Thanks for letting me copy your notes,” Todd said, handing Wilbur his notebook back.  “Just starting a new school . . . has been really tough on me.”

“No problem,” Wilbur said, placing his notebook in his locker.  Todd noticed models of molecules and galaxies inside.

“Whoa, did you make all of these?” Todd asked, impressed.

“It’s a hobby of mine,” Wilbur said, grinning.

“They’re great,” Todd said, looking them over.  “If you don’t win the Nobel Prize, you can always be an artist.”

“Well . . . I guess it’s good to have a fallback plan,” Wilbur said.  “So, which area of science do you wish to focus on for our project?  Astronomy?  Physics?  Biology?  Chemistry? . . .”

“Um, how about Biology?  I got my highest grade on my report on grey foxes,” Todd said.

“Hmm, I guess we could do a report on the animal kingdom,” Wilbur said.  “However, if you feel courageous we could do research about the human brain—“

“Nice statues, IQ,” a new voice said, belonging to Saul Gam, a pretty-boy bully.  “Mind if I borrow one for my science project?  Thanks.”

Saul’s friends held Todd and Wilbur back as Saul helped himself to one of Wilbur’s models.  Saul slammed Wilbur’s locker shut and he and his friends walked away.

“Hey, are you all right?” Todd asked and Wilbur nodded.  “Come on, let’s go find a teacher.”

“It’s not going to do any good,” Wilbur said and sighed.  “I already reported on Saul twice and he still hasn’t stopped.  I just wish . . .”

Saul suddenly walked into a rake that the janitor left out.  He then stumbled into a tree and fell into a rose bush.  Todd felt a chill run down his spine.

“Hey, um, Wilbur, how about we meet in library and figure out where to start?  I . . . have to use the restroom,” Todd said.

Wilbur agreed and Todd did his best not to run to the restroom.  Finding one empty, he hid in the stall and dialed Duke.

“Todd?” Duke answered.  “I know I said it’s fine to call, but we have a situation—“

“I think there’s a Trouble at school,” Todd quickly said.  “There’s this kid, Wilbur Streeter—“  he heard Duke groan.  “What is it?”

“I know that name from the Crocker journal,” Duke said.  “The Streeter’s Trouble gave people they’re mad at bad luck, I mean _really_ bad luck, enough to kill someone or  the person kills themselves.”

“That’s what I’m seeing,” Todd said. 

“Look, Nathan, Paige, and I will be there as soon as we can.  Just keep Wilbur happy, and keep his mind off of whomever he’s mad at; the more he thinks about that person, the worst his luck is going to get.  I’ll call again when we get there,” Duke said.

Todd agreed and hung up, then left for the library.          

* * *

“Okay, you know what to do,” Duke said to Todd.  It was lunchtime and thanks to Todd, Duke found a way to get Wilbur’s blood on him without freaking out the kid.  Paige was nearby just in case Wilbur’s Trouble acted up again.  Saul was admitted to the hospital after a rattlesnake bit him and Nathan was there to watch over him.

Todd soon spotted Wilbur, sitting down at one of outside lunch tables.  Wilbur took out his diabetes test kit, and pricked his finger.  Todd immediately rushed up to Wilbur and escorted him to Duke, making sure the cut stayed opened.

“Hey, Wilbur, I want you to meet my cousin, Duke,” Todd quickly said, bringing Wilbur close to Duke. 

“Todd, this is very inconvenient—“ Wilbur protested, as Todd guided his cut finger to Duke’s arm. 

Wilbur’s jaw dropped when he saw his blood being absorbed into Duke’s skin and stood there petrified, staring into Duke’s silver eyes as he drew in the black mist.  Wilbur recovered as the Aether materialized in Duke’s palm as his eyes changed back.

“Wait!  What is this?  Is this a Trouble?” Wilbur asked.

“Well . . . _you_ were Troubled, but Duke removed it,” Todd said.

“I was?  Is that it?” Wilbur asked, looking at the Aether sphere.  “Maybe we can use this for our—“

“No,” Todd and Duke said simultaneously.

“Oh, yes . . . we’ll stick to our original plan on the study of the natural ecology of Haven,” Wilbur said.  “But what was my Trouble?”

“I’ll explain at lunch,” Todd said.

“Very well; I have to retake my diabetes test anyway,” Wilbur said and looked at Duke.  “Um, thank you.”

With that, Wilbur walked back to his lunch.  Duke then noticed Todd reaching for the Aether sphere with the entranced look in his eyes and moved his hand away.

“Sorry, Todd; you heard Gloria: no more purifying Aether, until she’s satisfied that you’re fully recovered,” Duke said, snapping Todd out of his trance.  “And even then, I know she’ll set rules to how much you can purify.”

“I just want to—“

“I know you want to help, but the Aether is also safe at the armory,” Duke said and sighed.  “Look, let’s make a deal: stop worrying about the Aether and after school, I’ll give you a tour of _The Cape Rouge._ ”

“Really?”

“I just finished the repairs, and if there’s time, we can see if she’s seaworthy,” Duke said, smiling.

“Deal!” Todd said, shaking Duke’s other hand.

“Oh, and you have to finish your homework first,” Duke added.

Todd rolled his eyes, but agreed.

* * *

“So was the situation that you told me on the phone?” Todd asked as Duke drove them to _The Cape Rouge_.

Duke gave Todd a look, but smiled a little.  “The police found a few men, covered in in frost, frozen to death.  It took a while, but Paige tracked down the Troubled woman, her Trouble is that is that she when gives a man the cold shoulder, they become covered in ice.”

“Did you remove her Trouble?” Todd asked.

Duke shook his head.  “Not yet.  Elsa Rogan is probably hiding, like any person who can’t make sense of their Troubles.”

Todd choked, holding back his laughter.  “Wait, Elsa?  As in—“

“Yes, like the movie,” Duke said, smiling.  “I didn’t know Aether has a sense of irony.”

Todd was to speak, when something caught his eye.

“Duke!  Look out!”

Duke hit the brakes and slowly skidded on the ice which covered the road leading to the docks.

“You okay, kid?” Duke asked when they stopped.

Todd nodded and noticed movement, and got Duke’s attention.  Slowly walking out from behind a shed was a woman with long light blonde hair and blue eyes, looking nervous.  Duke recognized her.

“Stay inside,” Duke said and Todd nodded back before he got out.

“Hey; you’re Elsa, right?” Duke said, walking up to the woman.

“Are you D-Duke Crocker?” Elsa nervously asked.  “I-I heard you help—help people escape.  Please, help me!”

“I can, Elsa, but you don’t need to leave Haven,” Duke said.

“No!  Stay back!  Don’t touch me!” Elsa said, backing away.  “I heard what happened to those men!  I don’t want to hurt you!  I can’t stay here!  I don’t want to go to jail!”

“I know the chief pretty well, and I can help you with your Trouble,” Duke said.  “I can remove it.”

“No!  I have to leave!  They’re after me!” Elsa said.

Duke stopped.  “’They?’”

Elsa’s eyes widen it horror.  “Him!”

Duke turned around and saw the Void walking towards them.  Elsa screamed and ran off, leaving behind a trail of snow-covered footprints, and Duke noticed.

“Follow her!” Duke yelled and Todd jumped out of the truck and chased after Elsa.

Duke focused on the Void, still heading towards him, wishing Paige left him the Crocker’s super strength.  Instead, he posed himself for a fight.

“Okay, just you and me; man-to . . . indescribable horror,” Duke said.

The Void stopped and Duke was confusion.  Was it . . . smiling?

Something that looked like a thinny opened up next to the Void, but it looked more stable, and shaped more like a door.  Two women then walked out.  Out of them was Elsa who was restrained by a smaller woman whose face was hidden behind Elsa.  Todd then came running back.

“Duke, I couldn’t find—“ Todd began to say, but stopped when he saw the Void, Elsa, and the other woman.

The other woman handed Elsa to the Void and Duke felt his heart stop.

There, standing in front of him, wearing a simple black dress, was Jennifer Mason.  However, her eyes were black and her face showed no recognition when she saw Duke.

The Void grabbed Elsa and firmly held her, and sucked up the dark fog that came from Elsa’s mouth.  Once the Void closed it’s mouth, Elsa’s lifeless body dropped to the ground.  The Void seemed give Todd and Duke an evil smile as Jennifer walked back through her own ‘thinny,’ and it followed her.   Then ‘thinny’ then vanished.

“Jennifer . . .” Duke got out as his legs buckled.  Todd ran to his side.

“Duke?  Duke?  Are you okay?  What did you mean ‘Jennifer’?” Todd asked, but Duke didn’t respond.

Todd did the only thing he could think of and called Nathan and Paige.

* * *

“Oh, Duke,” Paige said, after Todd and Duke told them what happened when they all got to the armory.  She went up to Duke and hugged him.  “I’m so sorry.”

“How is this even possible?” Dwight exclaimed.

“The Void must have found something with Jennifer’s DNA and reconstructed her,” Croatoan spoke, getting everyone’s attention.  “Well, not completely.  From the way you described, Jennifer does not possess her original personality or memories, which means she’s partly an Aether construct as well; probably easier to control.  The Void must have read my mind when I was one with it since it keeps stealing my ideas.”

“Yeah, we’ll make sure we’ll sue the Void for copyright infringement when we arrest it,” Duke said in a flat tone.

“Is there a way free to Jennifer?” Nathan asked Vince.

“It’s very simple,” Croatoan answered.  “Kill her.”

Duke glared at Croatoan and marched at him.

“I am not like you; I don’t take the easy way out,” Duke said to Croatoan’s face.

“Don’t let your feelings get in the way,” Croatoan snapped back. 

“They’re not.  I’m just not you and I’m not going to kill someone I loved just to get my way,” Duke firmly stated, then marched out of the armory and Todd ran after him. 


	10. Saving You from Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Once again, a huge thanks to TRDowden1 for help!

 

Ch. 10: Saving You from Yourself

Todd smiled as he and his friends video chatted.

“So what’s it like in Haven?” Dominic asked.

“Just what you think: small town stuff,” Todd answered.

“Have you seen anything weird?” Samiir asked.

“What do you mean ‘weird’?”  Todd cautiously asked.

“Okay, when Mrs. Lackey heard you moved to Haven, she said there’s been tales of the supernatural originating from there,” Samiir said. 

“What kind of supernatural stuff?” Todd asked.

“She didn’t say what of supernatural stuff, but she was really certain,” Samiir said.

“Well . . . there have been some strange things . . .” Todd said, but he checked the time.  “I just can’t get into it right now.”

Todd’s friends groaned and complained.

“Hey, I’m not avoiding the subject,” Todd said, then said in a more serious tone, “Duke’s been going through some tough times.”

“Is he all right?” Bridget asked.

“Someone’s messing with his personal life,” Todd said.  “I just want to help; he should be home right now, and I’m going to visit him.”

“Man,” Samiir said.  “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Todd said.

“Do you think you will make it for the Harvest Moon Dance?” Bridget asked.

“Hopefully,” Todd said.  “I know I can’t make it for the Family School Carnival.” 

“It’s not going to be the same without you,” Dominic said.

Todd and his friends spoke for a while longer, before they said their good-byes.

* * *

Duke looked up from where he was sitting and saw Todd walking across the deck of _The Cape Rouge_.

“Hey,” Todd said.

“Hey,” Duke responded.

Todd sat down next to Duke and joined him looking out at sea.

“Removed any Troubles today?” Todd asked.

“Only one so far,” Duke said, and Todd left it at that.  No one said anything for a while.

“I’ve been thinking . . .  about what the Void did to Jennifer . . . and I have an idea,” Todd finally said.

Duke signed.  “Well, I’ve worked with bad ideas before, so let’s hear it.”

“Croatoan said that Jennifer is partially an Aether construct,” Todd said.  “And that’s how the Void is controlling her.  What if . . . you remove the Aether and I purified it?  Then—“

Duke raised a hand, stopping Todd.  “Sorry, kid, I see a flaw in your plan.  If we remove the Aether from Jennifer she won’t survive without it and she’ll die.  But that was a good effort—“

“I already thought about that,” Todd said, and Duke looked a little surprised.  “What if we somehow transfer the Aether instantaneously?”

“Good idea, but how are we going to do that?”

“You remove the Aether, give it to me, and I’ll return the Pellucid Aether back to Jennifer,” Todd said.

“Again, how are we going to do that?”

“Well . . . what if we cut our palms and let your blood go through my cut?” Todd suggested.  “You’ll be a conduit for the Aether.  Once the Aether is inside of me, I’ll purified it and return it to Jennifer.  Maybe I can purify her Trouble as well.”

“You realize we have no way of testing your idea to see if you’re right,” Duke said.

“I know, but you and Nathan took the risk of using the Reincarnation Trouble to save Audrey,” Todd said.  “And Nathan and Audrey took a chance trying to free you from Croatoan.”

Duke deeply sighed before he look at Todd and spoke.  “Have you heard of Don Henley?”

“No.”

“He was a band called The Eagles.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of them.”

“Any way, when he went solo, he did a song called ‘End of the Innocence;’ you should listen to it.”

“Why?”

“Because it perfectly describes life in Haven,” Duke said.  “We lose more than we win; you can alleviate the pain, but sometimes the suffering won’t stop; only a few are luckier than others.”

“But you don’t know until—“ Todd began.

“Save me the hope speech,” Duke said, trying not to sound mean.  “Look, when we stuck in Henry’s dream world, he offered me my own happiness: a world where Jennifer and I are together and no Troubles.  I rejected his offer.  Do you want to know why?  Because I knew that could never happen to me.”

Todd didn’t know what to say, but after a minute he spoke.  “I remember you told me I have to stay in the real world to make my dreams come true.  And I still recall your memories; how you fought for the ones you love, and how much you loved Jennifer.  Isn’t she worth fighting for?”

Duke was silent.

“Even if it doesn’t work, doesn’t Jennifer deserve to be free from the Void?” Todd said.

Duke didn’t respond.  Todd was about to leave, when Duke spoke.

“If I see the faintest hint of you getting weak, we back off,” Duke said, getting Todd’s attention.  “We stop and we don’t try again.”

“We’re going to do it?” Todd asked.

“Todd, if you feel you’re about to collapse, stop,” Duke repeated.

“I will.”

“I’m serious, Todd,” Duke lectured sternly.  “I don’t want you to risk yourself for this; I can’t accept that.”

“I promise!”

“You better keep your word,” Duke said, then added with a tiny smile, “if you do, I’ll get you a pet.”

* * *

“You want me to do _what?!_ ” Croatoan exclaimed when they went over the idea in the armory with the others.

“We need you to be the bait; lure the Void away from Jennifer so we can save her,” Nathan said.  “Vince said the Void will be attracted to your Aether.”

“You’re putting your faith in . . . a—a child’s imagination?” Croatoan got out.

“I am not a child,” Todd said, defensively, and Croatoan glared at him.

“Why I should I do this?” Croatoan demanded.

Paige was about to say something, but Duke spoke up.

“Forget it, this is a waste of our time,” Duke said and turned to leave.  “He’s right, this will never work, even he knows he’s outmatched.  The Void is too clever for any of us.”

Croatoan frowned at him.  “What was that?”

“I’m sorry that your father is just a coward, Paige,” Duke said and began to walk out, but Croatoan stepped in front of him.

“How _dare_ you say that in front of my daughter!” Croatoan bellowed, outraged.  “If I wasn’t stuck in here, I would have rearrange your DNA into . . . something not human!”

"So you'll do it so your daughter won't think you're an egotistical phony?" Duke grinned.

Croatoan realized that he walked into Duke’s trap.

* * *

A short time later, Croatoan was walking by himself on the sandy buff.  A minute later, the Void appeared ahead of him, with Jennifer following behind it.  Croatoan did his best to use the Aether as a weapon against the Void, but it absorbed all of his attacks.  When the Void was close enough, it lifted Croatoan up with one arm and began sucking in the dark fog that came out of Croatoan’s mouth.

“Hey, Jennifer!  Bet you can’t catch me!” Todd teased, appearing behind Jennifer, getting both hers and the Void’s attention, who paused in killing Croatoan.

Todd then ran off, and Jennifer looked at the Void.  Seeing that the child was unprotected for a change, the Void gave Jennifer permission to hunt Todd with a nod before continuing feasting off of Croatoan.

Jennifer soon saw Todd run to the road, where Nathan was waiting in the Bronco.

“Get in, Todd!  You’ll be safe at _The Cape Rouge_!” Nathan called out and once Todd was safe inside the Bronco, Nathan drove off.

Jennifer stopped, watching the Bronco drive off.  She then created a Door and walked through it to where _The Cape Rouge_ was docked.  She saw Todd and Nathan running onto the boat.   Jennifer followed at a calm pace; she knew he couldn't go anywhere that she couldn't access easily.

She carefully listened and searched, locating the child inside the boat.  She soon spotted him running into the hold and followed him.  Once she was inside, Nathan slammed the door and locked it.  Jennifer turned to look at it, her expression blank.  She was not worried; she knew she could create a Door to leave, once Todd was dead.  Just as she about to catch the boy, Paige grabbed her from behind and Duke stepped out from the shadows. 

Duke cut his and Todd’s palms, while Paige got out another knife and cut Jennifer’s arm.

“Duke, now!” Paige exclaimed, trying to restrain Jennifer, and extended her cut arm.

The blood from Jennifer landed on Duke’s other palm, and Paige let go, as Duke grabbed Jennifer with one hand, while his cut hand firmly grasped Todd’s.  Todd grabbed Jennifer’s other arm and felt the Aether exit Duke’s body into his own.

Paige watched anxiously, hoping that Todd's crazy plan would work.  She knew that if it backfired, she now had enough knowledge of Aether control to fix the situation, plus Nathan was outside for backup in case Jennifer escaped.

She wished she knew of a way to make the process go faster, she reflected, keeping a close watch on Duke's silver eyes and Todd's glowing ones, making sure they were okay.

Duke felt the flow of Aether through his body, somewhat surprised that Todd was right.  He then checked on Todd, and a second later, he saw the boy stagger.

_'Out,'_ Duke instinctively thought at Todd.  The Aether flowing through him was almost as though he were being electrocuted, unable to unclasp his grasp on Jennifer's arm or move his mouth to speak, and he worried that Todd couldn't let go either.

_‘Wait, it’s almost done, I can feel it.  Can you?’_ Todd responded, surprising Duke.

_‘I do,’_ Duke said.  _‘Time to get out, Todd.’_

_‘We’re almost there!  We can do it!’_

_‘Don’t make me have Paige remove you by force,’_ Duke said.  ‘ _You said you would—‘_

_‘There it is!’_ Todd said, making Duke confused, but he saw a drop of blood land next to Todd’s shoes and knew where it came from as Paige took a step forward.  _‘Don’t worry!  It’s working!’_

_‘Todd . . .’_

An unseen force flung everyone to opposite sides of the room.  Duke felt light-headed as his eyes returned to their regular color and looked around.  The first he saw was Todd lying on the floor, his eyes were normal, but blood was coming from them.

“Todd . . .” Duke managed to get out as the door was opened.  He heard Nathan yelling something, but he couldn’t make it out as he collapsed and slipped into unconsciousness.    

* * *

When Duke regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a hospital bed.

“Hey,” Duke turned to see Nathan coming closer.  “How do you feel?”

“Tired, but fine,” Duke said.

Nathan had a thin smile on his face.  “Just like when you exploded, you got out fine.”

“Todd?” Duke asked.

“Unconscious, weak, but stable,” Nathan replied, but stopped Duke from getting up.  “But I don’t think you should go see him right now.”

“Why?” Duke asked, getting worried.

“Because Gloria’s watching over him,” Nathan said.  “Trust me, if you value your newly-regained life, you’ll leave Todd to face his judgment before you see him.”

Duke nodded understanding, and then nervously asked "Jennifer?"

“She’s in a room across the hall.  Dwight’s with her.  She’s unconscious, but alive,” Nathan said.

Duke felt he was about to cry tears of joy.  “Something actually worked.”

“I guess once in a while something does go right,” Nathan said, smiling.

“Where’s Paige?  Is she all right?” Duke asked.

“She’s fine.  She’s at the armory right now.  Vince somehow summoned Croatoan back into the armory before the Void could kill him; he’s barely alive,” Nathan said.

“Something had to go wrong,” Duke said, and he and Nathan laughed.   “Do you think I could see Jennifer?”

Nathan nodded and Duke got up and dressed.  He then lead Duke to Jennifer’s room.  Dwight greeted them.  Duke saw Jennifer, and went to her side. He gently touched her cheek, and Jennifer fluttered her eyes opened.  The first thing she saw was Duke.

“Duke?” she said.

"Jennifer," Duke breathed, crushing her against him, and Dwight and Nathan both could see the gleam of a tear as it traveled down Duke's nose.

He pulled back at length, stroking Jennifer's face gently.

"How do you feel?" he asked tenderly.

“Really tired,” Jennifer responded and sat up straighter.  She then examined Duke closely.  “Wait, did you cut your hair?  When did you do that?”

She then noticed the expressions on the men’s faces.

“What happened?” she asked.

“There’s . . . a lot . . . you should be updated on,” Duke said, and pulled out a chair. 

* * *

 

“So I died?” Jennifer reviewed and Duke nodded.  “Then the Void, which is somehow sentient, brought me back to life as a half-human, half-Aether construct?  Later, you died, but you survived because Croatoan, who is Audrey’s father, who is now Paige, found a way to transport your spirit into a distant relative named Todd Beale-Grant?  Dave was killed by Croatoan, and Vince is kind of not here because he became the Controller for the Barn, which is now the armory?  And you’re alive again because Croatoan and Paige?”

Duke nodded.  “Yep; you got it.”

“I need more morphine,” Jennifer said, trying to call a nurse and Duke laughed.  “Oh, what about Todd?  Is he okay?”

“I—“ Duke began.

“OF COURSE I’M UPSET!  HOW DO YOU THINK I’D REACT WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT YOUR CRAZY PLAN?!” they heard Gloria yelling down the hall.

“Um, excuse me, Jennifer, I have to go save Todd before Gloria performs a live autopsy on him,” Duke told Jennifer. 

Jennifer smiled her understanding.

"I'll stay here with Jennifer," Nathan said, glancing at Dwight.

"Yeah—it's safer in here than it is out there," Dwight added.

Duke stole a quick kiss from Jennifer, and went out into the hall, following the sound of Gloria's angry voice, and heard the unmistakable sound of Gloria delivering a sound, smack to the back of Todd's head.

“Ouch!  Why did you hit me?” Todd asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“To knock some sense into you,” Gloria sternly replied.  “You are _grounded_.  You’re coming straight home after school.  No skateboarding, no social media, no calls.”

“Until when?” Todd asked.

“Until I calm down,” Gloria said. 

Duke into the room to find Todd indeed was rubbing his head—and himself right in the line of fire of a very irate Gloria.

"And _you_ ," she snarled, walking up to Duke.  "Going along with that insane plan!"

"Before you flay me alive, hear me out," Duke protested.  “I did tell Todd to stop, but he wouldn’t listen.”  He then saw Todd’s protesting face.  “I am not throwing you under the bus, but out of all people, Gloria should know how stubborn Crockers are, no matter how far off they’re related.  We sacrifice for those we love.  It's just sometimes we don't consider the cost to ourselves.”

“And sometimes you know the cost and you do it anyway,” Gloria finished, and kissed Duke's cheek, then smacked it.  “If I could ground YOU too, I would; going along with him on that insane plan.”  She then relented.  “How is Jennifer?”

“Alive and awake,” Duke replied.  “The last she remembered was the lighthouse.”

“There's been an awful lot of ground covered since then,” Gloria said.  “Maybe you should go back and catch her up.  I'll stay with the kid here.”

“I updated her; I just came to make sure you weren't performing reconstruction surgery on him,” Duke said.  “It might have been his idea, but I was the one that said yes.”

“So you can share equally in his punishment,” Gloria said.  “ _Your_ sentence will be to do the gutters on the house and the yard work.  Linc's too old to be climbing up that ladder and doing all that anymore.”

“Fine, I accept,” Duke said and grinned at Todd.  “If he helps me, will you let him have his phone back?  What if something happens?  I don't want him not being able to reach one of us, not with this Void-William-thing on his trail.”

“He's right, Gloria,” Dwight said, coming into the room.  “Never thought I'd see the day I'd say Duke was right about something, but we can't run the risk.  This thing wants him dead, and I imagine it's because he can do what he does with his Trouble.”

“All right,” Gloria grudged, seeing Todd's smile.  “You get your phone back.  But that means instead of losing your phone, you’re now on Didie Duty—for the next two weeks.”

“You can keep my phone,” Todd said, and Dwight and Duke laughed out loud.

“What are you doing here?” Duke asked Dwight.

“Paige is here; she’s with Jennifer,” Dwight said.  “She asked me to get Todd.”

“Why?” Gloria asked.

“She says Croatoan told her how to make Jennifer fully human,” Dwight said.  “But she needs Todd.”

“I trust Croatoan about as much as Duke,” Gloria said.  “So why does Todd need to be involve?”

“Paige said that when she removes the Pellucid Aether, it will be drawn to someplace familiar,” Dwight told her.  “Since Todd can purify Aether, they’ll be drawn to him.  If he’s not there, the Pellucid Aether will just go to random places.”

“All right, let me check with his doctor to see if he can get out of bed ,” Gloria exhaled.

The doctor approved of Todd visiting Jennifer for a while, and Dwight wheeled Todd into Jennifer’s room where Nathan and Paige were.  Jennifer saw Todd and smiled warmly at him.

“Hi, you must be Todd,” she said.  “I’m Jennifer Mason . . . well, you already knew that . . . just it’s nice to meet you . . . not as the Void’s slave.”

Todd smiled; Jewel was just like her.

Paige nodded to Nathan, who closed the door.  Paige closed her eyes and placed her hands on Jennifer’s arm.  Soon, Pellucid Aether floated out of Jennifer and circled around Todd, like butterflies finding a flower.  Paige later opened her eyes as she lifted her hands.

“It worked,” Paige said, but she sounded tired.  “How are you feeling, Jennifer?”

“I think I need to rest,” Jennifer said.  “I think I saw an anteater walked by.”

“Um, what am I supposed to do with them?” Todd asked, indicating the Pellucid Aether still circling him.

“Croatoan said that the Pellucid Aether will respond to your wishes,” Paige said.

Todd concentrated and soon, the Pellucid Aether gathered together and settled on his lap.  Dwight got out the extra blanket from the closest and covered the Pellucid Aether with it.

“I’ll . . . hide these when I get back,” Todd said.

“Um, does everyone know I’m back from the dead?” Jennifer asked.

“Since Vince is now the Controller, he can change people’s memories,” Paige said.  “The majority of the townspeople will believe you went back to Boston to help some old friends recover who were in an accident.”

Jennifer nodded, understanding.  She then looked at Todd and smiled at him.  “Todd, thanks for saving me.”

“You know, you did save Jennifer,” Duke said.  “It was your crazy idea that saved her.  Even though you’re grounded, you should get a reward.”

“Like what?” Gloria asked.

“I did say Todd could get a pet if he kept his word,” Duke said and Gloria stared at him.  “Even though he kind of broke it, he shouldn’t be completely punished; his crazy idea did work.”

“I can really have a pet?” Todd asked.

“Okay, you can have a pet,” Gloria said and thought something over.  “In fact, if you’re interested, I may have something for you.  I’ll show you when you come home.”       

* * *

 

In a few days, Duke, Jennifer, and Todd were discharged from the hospital and waited in Gloria’s living room.  Gloria entered, carrying a cardboard pet carrier that had a constant stream or meowing coming from inside it.

“So my friend, Talitha Freemantle, found this in her backyard,” Gloria said, placing the cardboard carrier on the table, continuing to meow.  “Talitha wanted to keep her, but the next day her health turned for the worst and had to be taken to the hospice.  They wouldn’t allow pets at the hospice, so she asked me to either keep her or find her a good home.”

She opened the carrier.  The meowing stopped, and out crawled a two-month-old seal-point Siamese kitten with long legs and tail.  The kitten steadied herself on the table and looked around. 

“I don’t know if you’re a cat person or you’re allergic to cats, but if you like—“

Gloria didn’t need to finish her sentence as she watch Todd brought his hand closer to the kitten, who sniffed his hand and studied him.  She then rubbed his hand and purred.  Todd smiled and picked her, bringing her into his lap and the kitten purred louder as he stroked her.

“So I guess this mean we need to get a litter box?” Gloria said.

“Thank you, Dr.—Gloria,” Todd said, still smiling.

“She’s adorable!” Jennifer said, smiling at Todd.  “What are you going to name her?”

Todd studied the kitten and thought.  “Reinette.” 

“Hmm, what do you think?” Duke asked the kitten.

The kitten noticed Duke, sniffed his hand, then gave his hand a lick and purred more.

Jennifer chuckled.  “I think she likes the name.”

“Well, if you’re done gushing over your new pet, we have to go shopping for supplies, food, and toys for her,” Duke said. 

* * *

A week later, Reinette was proving to be a playful and energetic kitten.  She was also very intelligent, and was also quite vocal, as everyone had remarked on more than one occasion. Gloria officially declared Reinette to be ‘more Crocker than Beale,’ due to the fact she tried to steal food from the kitchen, and a few times succeeded, plus Reinette was very good finding where they hid stuff and love to drag it out to play.  However, Gloria didn’t seem to mind when Reinette made her favorite chair her most popular place to nap.

Duke and Jennifer decided to have lunch with Todd and Gloria, and Duke was going to bring the food and do the cooking.  Gloria greeted them and let them inside.

“Where’s Todd?” Jennifer asked.

“Reinette!  How did you find them?  No!  You can’t play with Pellucid Aether!” they heard Todd exclaimed.  Duke was about see what was going on when Todd spoke again.  “Come back here with it!  Here!  Get your favorite ball!”

A cloth ball was thrown towards them and Reinette chased after it.  Todd soon appeared and Reinette trotted to him with the ball in her mouth.

“She can fetch?” Jennifer asked as Reinette gave the ball to Todd.

“It’s one of her favorite activities,” Todd said, and gave the ball back to Reinette, who played with it.

“Is everything all right?” Gloria asked.  “We heard you yelling.”

“Oh, it’s okay.  Reinette just hid a Pellucid Aether sphere; should I go look for it now?” Todd said.

“You know all of Reinette’s favorite hiding spots, so you can look for it after lunch,” Gloria said and they all went into the kitchen.  “So, what’s on the menu for today?”

Duke placed the food on the counter.  “Well, for a surprise, how about—“

_‘FISH!’_ a girl’s voice excitingly said, as Reinette jumped on the counter when Duke took out the fish.  She then rubbed Duke’s hand and purred.

“Um, thank you for finishing my sentence, Jennifer,” Duke said as he placed Reinette down, but Jennifer looked confused.  “We also have—“

_‘FISH!’_ the girl’s voice said again as Reinette jumped on the counter once more.

“That wasn’t me,” Jennifer said.

“Um, Todd, how about you put Reinette in your room, while we let Paige know there’s a Trouble at my house,” Gloria said.

Todd nodded and went to get Reinette.

_‘NO!’_ the girl’s voice exclaimed as Reinette jumped down and ran away from Todd, hiding underneath the table.

“What if . . . what if it isn’t a Trouble?” Todd said.  “What if . . . the Pellucid Aether affected Reinette?”

“Aether can’t affect animals,” Duke said.

“Can it?” Jennifer asked.

Todd got out a can of Reinette’s favorite cat food.

_‘FOOD!’_ the girl’s voice said once Todd placed the cat food in the bowl and began eating.  _‘Yummy!’_

Todd looked at Duke.

“No . . . there’s no way . . .” Duke said.

_‘Okay, enough,’_ the girl’s voice said, as Reinette stopped eating and looked at the fish again.  _‘Now fish!”_

“You can’t have the fish, Reinette,” Todd said, catching Reinette before she could jump on the counter.

“Todd, I may believe you that we’re hearing Reinette, but to think she can understand us—“ Gloria began.

_‘But, fish smells yummy,’_ Reinette said.  _‘Why can’t I have fish?’_

Todd put Reinette down and they all stared at her.  Reinette blinked at them.

_‘What?’_ Reinette innocently asked.

“I never thought Haven could get any stranger,” Gloria finally said. 


	11. The Zoo School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As before, thanks for the wonderful TRDowden1 for help!

 

Ch. 11: The Zoo School

Luckily for Todd, he was only grounded for two weeks. Gloria had felt more than a little guilty when she saw how sad Todd had looked; especially after she'd found out how much he'd been looking forward to the Family School Carnival, in order to have the chance to spend the day with his friends and family. To substitute for the carnival, Duke offered Todd a sail in _The Cape Rouge_ for the weekend, with Jennifer. Gloria still had the final say, but she approved, only if Todd took Reinette along; Reinette was his responsibility and Gloria said she had enough on her mind right now, and Todd agreed to take Reinette.

Todd spent his time after school helping Reinette get acclimated to being on a boat, while Jennifer reunited with Vince, offering her sympathizes and condolences. She also spent time practicing her new Favor: she now had the power to travel to other places through doors. Jennifer had first found out about it when she had opened the closet door to get her coat before she left to go shopping, and saw the store manager's office inside of the closet.

On Saturday morning, Todd came aboard _The Cape Rouge,_ carrying his luggage and Reinette's cloth bag carrier he recently brought for her. He made sure he had everything set up for Reinette (litter box, food, water, small scratching board, toys) before he let her out of her pet carrier.

' _Still not sure,'_ Reinette said as she explored Todd's room and sniffed. _'Big to walk around, yet it moves . . . a bug!'_

Todd smiled seeing Reinette stalking a fly.

' _Get the bug!'_ Reinette exclaimed as she chased the fly. _'Eat the bug!'_

Todd's phone then rang and he saw it was Samiir; Reinette was focused on her hunt.

"Hi," Todd said when he answered his phone.

"Todd!" Samiir exclaimed. Todd heard animal sounds and people screaming in the background.

"What's happening?" Todd asked, concerned.

"Something's weird going on! We're . . . the school . . . changing!" Samiir said. "We're changing into animals!"

"Everyone?" Todd asked.

"No, only kids are," Samiir said. "Even Marianna and Taslima!"

Todd's eyes grew wide; Marianna was Dominic's little sister and Taslima was Marianna's best friend.

"What are the adults doing?" Todd asked.

"They . . . separated . . . we can't get out," Samiir said, and it sounded like he was struggling to talk.

"What are you talking about?"

"Some type of . . . barrier . . . keeps us from leaving school grounds," Samiir said and then Todd heard grunting, like a gorilla. "Before she was (grunting) forced to leave . . . Mrs. Lackey found me (grunting) and asked me (grunting) to call you. She said (grunting) that the Teague brothers will help . . . Todd . . ."

"Samiir?" Todd asked. All he could hear was grunting from a gorilla, then the line cut.

Todd ran out his room to find Duke and Jennifer.

* * *

After they made sure Reinette wouldn't escape _The Cape Rouge,_ Duke drove Todd and Jennifer to Todd's old school in Delain, Patrick Danville Middle School. When they got there, they found the school staff and parents gathered around the school. There were also animal control officers and wildlife officers as well. When they exited Duke's truck, they noticed some animals running and flying around, trying to get to the adults, but some invisible barrier prevented them from escaping.

"Todd!"

Todd turned around to see an older woman with shoulder-length white and silver hair coming up to him. She had brown eyes, wore wire-framed glasses, and was between Jennifer and Gloria in height. Behind her were an African-American man and woman. The man was tall and also wore wire-framed glasses, while the woman was a little pudgy and had short hair. Duke recognized them as Mrs. Lackey, Mr. Spencer, and Mrs. Wallace, Todd's teachers.

"Oh, Todd! I'm so happy Samiir succeeded!" Mrs. Lackey said. "Since I'm not your teacher anymore, I can hug you."

"So, um, this must be Mrs. Lackey, your old Social Science teacher," Duke said, after Mrs. Lackey hugged Todd, and soon she noticed Duke and Jennifer.

"Oh, yes; Anne Lackey: Social Science," Mrs. Lackey said, shaking Duke's and Jennifer's hands. "And you are?"

"I'm Duke Crocker, Todd's cousin, and this is Jennifer Mason," Duke introduced.

"Anne, why is Todd here?" Mrs. Wallace asked, then looked at Todd. "Not that it's nice to see you again."

"I'll get there soon, Edie," Mrs. Lackey said. "Did Samiir give you my message about the Teague brothers?"

"Well, um, the thing is . . ." Todd began.

"They're not with us anymore," Jennifer finished.

Anne looked like someone hit her and she rapidly blinked her eyes.

"I . . . need to be alone for a moment," Mrs. Lackey said and walked off.

"I'll . . . go check on her," Jennifer said and followed Mrs. Lackey.

"I don't know what she was thinking," Mrs. Wallace said. Then she looked at Duke. "Sorry for not introducing myself; Edie Wallace: Biology."

"Shea Spencer: English," Mr. Spencer said.

"Does anyone know what happening over there?" Duke asked, indicating the school.

* * *

Jennifer soon caught up to Mrs. Lackey, who was wiping her eyes with a handkerchief as she wept.

"Mrs. Lackey?" Jennifer politely said. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh, it's not your fault," Mrs. Lackey said, trying to smile. "It's just the reaction of a foolish old woman."

"I knew the Teague brothers as well," Jennifer said, getting Mrs. Lackey's attention. "I worked for them at _The Haven Herald._ "

"Bet they were silly, but good men," Mrs. Lackey said.

"Yes," Jennifer said. "How did you know?"

Mrs. Lackey put away her handkerchief and took out an old photo from her purse and gave it to Jennifer. The photo showed the Teague brothers, much younger, with a woman, who Jennifer surmised must be Mrs. Lackey.

"I first meet Vince and Dave around 1955," Mrs. Lackey said. "They heard I was doing a research paper on the local folklore of Maine and they were interested in my work. I had a wonderful time with them, even developed a crush."

"On who?" Jennifer asked.

"I was young, I just waited until which brother decided to speak up first," Mrs. Lackey said and sighed as Jennifer returned the photo. "That's how it was back then; let the man make the first move. I should have known their heart was set on another woman. What's a boring anthropology student compared to an Army Nurse?" She then studied Jennifer. "You're not related to Todd."

"Um, no, but we're great friends," Jennifer said.

"Then you're dating Duke?" Mrs. Lackey asked, then smiled. "You don't have to answer. Just make sure you let him know how you feel; you live in an age where it's acceptable for women to express their feelings."

"I do," Jenifer said, smiling back. "Do you feel like you can come back?"

"Oh, yes! We must solve this Trouble," Mrs. Lackey said, surprising Jennifer, and Mrs. Lackey noticed. "Remember, I worked with the Teague brothers; they couldn't keep everything away from me. They even took me to visit Haven."

"Did we miss anything?" Jennifer asked once they rejoined the group.

"They were about to explain what happened at school," Duke said.

"It's kind of hard to describe . . . I was just running my booth and talking to parents, when I heard screaming," Mrs. Wallace said. "The next thing I knew, it looked like the students were changing right in front of me into . . . animals. Mr. Penrod had us evacuate the school for our safety."

"Mr. Penrod is the principal," Todd said, trying to sound like Duke didn't already know.

"I saw the same thing," Mr. Spencer said. "Kids . . . slowly changing into animals, begging us for help, but then that . . . wall appeared."

"No one can get in?" Duke asked.

Mr. Spencer shook his head. "We're trying to get the fire department to help, but . . . it's kind of hard explaining our emergency."

"Sorry to ask, but we need to know: did the kids all change at once?" Jennifer asked, then looked at Duke and hoped her wink at him was subtle enough. "Mrs. Lackey told me she worked with the Teague brothers and found out their secrets."

"Well . . . not really, some of the students were changing earlier than others," Mrs. Lackey said.

"Jennifer?" Duke asked.

"I heard Vince and Dave say that certain Troubles have an epicenter," Jennifer said.

"Right; the closer a person is to the Trouble, the faster the reaction," Duke said, remembering reading about that kind of Trouble in the Crocker family journal.

"So the further away someone is to the Trouble, the slower the reaction," Mrs. Lackey said, catching on.

"Hold it. What's this about 'Troubles'?" Mr. Spencer said. "Anne, this is no time—"

"Shea! Didn't you tell me that most supernatural stories originate from Haven?" Mrs. Lackey said. "Why did you think I asked Samiir to call Todd, and it's not because I didn't have his or the Teague brothers phone numbers!"

"I did, but—" Mr. Spencer began.

"And, Edie! Didn't you say that the animals looked like they're in their adolescence age?" Mrs. Lackey said.

"It's just not logical," Mrs. Wallace said.

"Look, do you have any explanation what happened to the students, what you saw?" Duke said. "How are you going explain that wall? I'm not asking you to believe in the supernatural, I'm asking you to put this as 'unexplainable,' and let us handle the unexplainable."

"This is no emergency," a new voice said, and they saw Mrs. Bleak walking to them. "I don't know what Mrs. Lackey has told you, but she's overreacting." She then noticed Todd. "Why are you back?"

"Then what's your explanation, Dolores?" Mrs. Lackey said.

"I told you at the meetings the students will try to pull off a prank at the Family School Carnival," Mrs. Bleak said. "This has to be it! Doing something so outrageous just to be famous!"

"How did they get all the animals?" Mrs. Lackey asked.

"You know you can get anything off the internet," Mrs. Bleak said.

"And the wall?" Mrs. Lackey asked.

"Not everything can be answered by your 'magic circle of Haven,'" Mrs. Bleak said. "This is a result of what happens when you give students too much free rein!"

Mrs. Lackey and Mrs. Bleak began arguing and Mr. Spencer and Mrs. Wallace tried to break up the fight. Duke, Jennifer, and Todd stepped away from the teachers.

"Okay, this all points to a Trouble," Duke said, when they were far enough.

"How can a Trouble be at my old school?" Todd asked.

"It could be that someone came from Haven," Jennifer said. "Or—"

"'Or'?" Todd asked.

"This could be the work of the Void," Jennifer said. "It can Trouble people."

"Yeah, we thought as much," Duke said.

"We have to do something! My friends are in there! They don't know what's going on!" Todd said.

"They may not even be aware of even that," Duke said and Todd looked at him. "Their minds might have reverted to an animal state."

"You mean . . . they believe they are really animals?" Todd asked. "No—"

"Todd, this is a Trouble, we have to be prepared for the worst," Duke said and took out his phone. "Which is why we need help."

"Who are you calling?" Todd asked.

"Paige; see if she's available to help us find who's Troubled," Duke said, then looked at Jennifer before he dialed. "Think you can get us inside?"

"Um, I think so," Jennifer said. "But why?"

" _If_ the students still retain their minds, we need to talk to them to find out who's Troubled," Duke said.

"My friends will help!" Todd said.

"Uh, hate to bring you down, Todd, but . . . what if they haven't retained their minds?" Jennifer asked.

"I have my gun and knife," Duke said and Todd's eyes grew wide.

"You brought a GUN to school?!" Todd exclaimed, hoping the teachers didn't hear him.

"Didn't I say earlier that you have to be prepared for the worst with Troubles?" Duke said. "And you know I don't kill or hurt kids; I'm just going to use them to scare them off if necessary."

"Okay," Todd said and breathed in a sigh of relief. He then looked at the school, wondering what unusual stuff was happening inside.

* * *

Duke cursed under his breath as his foot landed in a mop bucket, while Jennifer crashed into a shelf full of cleaning supplies and Todd tripped over some brooms.

"Sorry," Jennifer apologized as Duke freed his foot and opened the door.

The halls were filled with young animals and as soon they saw Jennifer and Duke, they began to converge around them, making animals sounds.

"Whoa, wait, stop," Duke said, and to his surprised, the animals halted. "You're all confused and scared right now and we're here to help, but we need space to figure out what happened. We'll let you know if we need your help."

"Somehow," Jennifer added.

The animals then moved away, and Duke and Jennifer noticed the piles of clothing scattered around the halls.

"Todd, it's okay; it looks like they know who they are," Duke called, but Todd didn't respond. "Todd?"

"Sorry," Todd said, walking out, rubbing his jaw. "My teeth feel weird."

"Oh, let me look," Jennifer said and Todd opened his mouth. Jennifer looked in his mouth and couldn't prevent herself from gasping and taking a step back. Duke quickly looked.

"What?" Todd asked.

"Okay, no easy way to tell you this: you have fangs," Duke said.

"I—what?!" Todd immediately ran to the nearest boys' bathroom and Duke and Jennifer chased after him.

"Todd? No, you don't have to wait outside, Jennifer!" Duke said, and he and Jennifer walked in and found Todd in front of the mirror, running his tongue over his now very sharp teeth. He then noticed Duke and Jennifer.

"The Trouble . . . I'm affected as well," Todd said, looking at them with sad eyes. "I'm going to change too."

Duke and Jennifer quickly enveloped Todd in a hug.

"Paige is going to be here and she'll help," Duke said. "Hey, no matter what happens, you know I'll take care of you."

"I'll take care of you too," Jennifer said. "At least we know that you're not turning into a frog or bug."

Duke and Todd had to laugh.

"Feel like finding your friends?" Duke kindly asked and Todd nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Duke and Jennifer let Todd leave first, and they couldn't help but notice Todd had shrank half an inch since they arrived at school.

* * *

20 minutes later, Todd not only lost a foot of his height, but an assortment of colored fuzz was beginning to cover his skin. His face was mostly grey, while the sides of his face was red-tan. His cheeks, neck, and around his nose was covered with white, while his chin was black along with a thin stripe that ran from the outside corner of his eyes to the sides of his head. Todd watched with a mix of fascination and horror as grey, tan-red, and white fuzz grew on his arms and hands.

"I'm turning into a grey fox," Todd said, examining himself and Duke and Jennifer stopped to look at him. The fuzz was coming in thicker, turning into fur; he still had his hair.

Duke was about to say something, when his phone rang and saw it was Paige.

"Can we sit? My feet feel strange; they must be changing as well," Todd said and his ears began get pointy.

Jennifer nodded and she and Todd sat down on a nearby bench as Duke answered his phone.

"Paige? Good, you're here. No, Jennifer and I are fine, the students still retain their human mind . . . so far; just Todd . . . the Trouble hit him," Duke said and checked on Todd to see pads forming on his fingers and palms. "Yeah, he's changing too; he says into a grey fox, and it looks like he's right. No, no leads on who did this; nobody here can speak human and so far no clues on who's Troubled. I know we have a long list of suspects, but we have to start now before it's . . ." Duke walked off and said in a lower voice. ". . . irreversible. Okay, I'll let you know if we find something out."

Duke and Paige soon finished their conversation and afterwards he walked back to Todd and Jennifer. Todd had his shoes and socks off and was looking at his fur covered feet.

"Hey," Duke said, getting their attention. "Paige is here, so are Dwight and Nathan. They'll start questioning the people outside. Ready to go on?"

Todd and Jennifer nodded and got up as Todd's nails grew longer.

* * *

Just as Paige hung up, she heard a commotion and saw a Hispanic woman rushing at the invisible barrier, and officers pulled her away.

"No! My babies are in there!" the woman cried out as the officers released her next to a Hispanic man with a mustache.

"Gracia, we must leave this to the officers," the man said, trying to sooth her.

"I heard them, Erasmo! They have no idea what's going on!" Gracia exclaimed. "I have to help our children! Aren't you worried?"

"He is, more than you realize," Paige said, stepping towards them, with Nathan. "He's trying to remain calm because he doesn't want to scare you anymore."

"How do you know that?" Gracia asked.

"We've . . . have experience with situations like this before," Paige said. "We're going to help your children and free them, but we need your help as well."

Garcia looked like she was going to kiss Paige, but instead, she wept with joy and gave Paige almost a thousand blessings in Spanish.

"My name is Erasmo Fidel. Our children are in there. What can we do to help?" Erasmo asked.

"Gather as many parents and teachers as you can, we need to question them to solve what's going on," Nathan said.

Erasmo nodded and left.

"Can you really help us?" a new man asked. He had dark hair and eyes. "I'm Myron Fane. My daughter, Bridget, is in there."

"We are," Nathan said. "Nathan Wuornos, Haven's Chief of Police."

"And why is Haven police mucking around Delain?" Mrs. Bleak asked, overhearing him.

"We have experience dealing with situations like this," Nathan said.

"This? This is nothing more than a prank!" Mrs. Bleak said. "Did Anne send for you? This is getting out of control; just what those kids wanted! Just leave this to the local authorizes! Do they even know you're here?"

"Yes, they do," Dwight said, stepping forward, as Erasmo returned with other parents. "And they welcome our help."

Mrs. Bleak glared at them before she stormed off.

"Some of the officers, I knew them when I was in the army," Dwight said. "They know I handle unusual occurrences."

Paige and Nathan nodded, and with Dwight, started questioning the people.

* * *

"Todd, is there a map of the school nearby?" Duke asked as he looked back, and tried not to react seeing Todd's changes.

Black whiskers sprouted from the sides of his nose, which was starting to turn black.

"There might be copies for new students at the student store," Todd said. "We're close by, it's over here."

"What are you thinking?" Jennifer asked as she and Duke followed Todd.

"If we find Todd's friends and somehow can communicate with us, maybe we can find 'ground zero,'" Duke said, and Jennifer nodded, understand.

However, when they got to the student store, it was now a gift shop.

"This isn't right," Todd said as they examined the store.

"Hey, doesn't this remind you of a gift shop at a zoo?" Jennifer asked and then came to a realization. "Exactly like a gift shop at a zoo."

"The school is being changed into a zoo?" Todd exclaimed as his ears completely transformed into fox ears and moved to the top of his head.

"Which is why the kids can't leave," Duke said. "A zoo keeps the public safe from animals."

" _I'm_ going to be in zoo?" Todd exclaimed.

"No, you are not," Duke said. "Is there anywhere else we can get maps?"

"Probably the principal's office," Todd said as his ear twitched.

Todd lead them to the school main building, where the principal's office was located.

"It's locked," Todd said, after he tried the door.

Duke scanned the secretary's desk and picked up a paper clip. He then began to work on the lock.

"Todd?" Jennifer asked, seeing the boy's queasy expression, and Duke unlocked the door.

"The changes are coming faster again," Todd said, clutching his chest, as Duke entered the principal's office. "I . . . just need some air."

Jennifer nodded and Todd left. Soon Duke returned, holding a map.

"Okay . . . where's Todd?" Duke asked, looking around.

"He didn't feel well, so he went outside," Jennifer explained, and lead Duke where Todd went.

"Todd?" Duke asked, looking around.

They then heard someone weeping, Todd weeping. They followed his crying behind a bush and saw that his face was starting to look more canine than human. All of his hair was now fur. His clothes were beginning to bag over his smaller body. His hands and feet were starting to form into paws, and growing from his back was a grey and tan-red long bushy fox tail with a black stripe on top and a large black tip.

Duke and Jennifer went to his side and he looked at them with eyes with oval-shaped pupils.

"I'm going to be stuck here," Todd said, but his voice was beginning to sound rough.

"Jennifer can get you out, or I will," Duke said.

"Does it hurt?" Jennifer asked. Todd shook his head. Duke then looked around.

"Todd, when the changes happened in a rush before, there were no others students around, right?" Duke asked.

"I . . . guess so," Todd said, having difficultly speaking and Jennifer agreed.

"What are you thinking, Duke?" Jennifer asked.

"Look around," Duke said. "There are no students around here as well."

"So that means . . ."

"That's whoever Troubled, is not a student, it has to be someone outside," Duke said. "And when your changes were quicker, it must have happened because the Trouble person was walking close to the building where we were."

"I'll tell Aud—Paige," Jennifer said, taking out her phone.

Duke went over to Todd and offered his hand.

"Think you can stand and walk?" Duke asked.

Todd nodded and Duke assisted him back to his feet.

* * *

After Jennifer updated the others, Paige, Dwight, and Nathan compared their notes from their interviews.

"So, no one came from Haven, or has visited Haven in the last 5 years," Dwight said, looking over what they had.

"Which leaves us with the only possibly that the Void Troubled someone," Nathan said, and scanned the crowd. "But who?"

"Excuse me," a new voice said. An older African-American woman stepped to them. "I'm Connie Juniper. Do you have any news about my grandson, Samiir?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Juniper, but we're still working on it," Nathan said.

"Oh, please call me Connie, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Connie said and looked at the school staff talking amongst themselves. "I guess I'm just blaming myself. I supported Samiir with making the Family School Carnival possible. I thought it would be good for both the students and the teachers; giving the teachers a break from their work. It must be like running a zoo."

_That_ got their attention.

"Um, actually, Connie, I think we may have a lead," Nathan said. "We'll let you know if we need your help."

"All right, thank you," Connie said and went over to talk with a group of parents.

"Think some of the school staff share her sentiments?" Dwight said.

"I won't be surprised," Paige said. "Where do we start?"

"Duke said Todd was turning into a gray fox?" Dwight asked Paige and she nodded. "I remember Todd was showing Lizzie some pictures on his phone of he and his friends dressed up as animals for a biology assignment."

"Then let's start with the biology teacher," Paige said.

* * *

Jennifer paused and examined a phone lying on a pile of clothing.

"What are you thinking, Jennifer?" Duke asked, joining her.

"Why haven't any of the students try communicating with the adults outside?" Jennifer said. "I mean, we saw some primates, they could type or use the computers, and even the ones who don't have hands anymore, they would have thought of some way of letting the adults know who they really are."

Duke thought about it. "That is a good question. What do you think, Todd?"

Todd wasn't there. Duke and Jennifer quickly retrace their steps and soon found Todd's clothing lying in a pile. They saw movement under the clothing and Duke carefully shifted through the clothing until he freed a 6 month old grey fox.

Todd shook himself once he was freed and looked up at the adults with sad fox eyes and whimpered.

"We'll find who's Troubled and have them reverse this," Duke said. "Even if I have to put a gun to their head."

Jennifer just patted Todd's head, reassuringly.

Soon, Todd's new senses kicked in and he smelled and heard stuff he never had as a human. One particular scent smelled familiar and followed it.

"Todd?" Duke asked, as Jennifer gathered his clothes and followed the fox.

' _I know who this is!'_ Todd thought, as his brain recognized the scent, and looked back at the adults and barked. He then dashed through the hallways of his changing school.

"Todd!" Duke called out as he and Jennifer chased after him. "There are times when I wish we could communicate telepathically again."

Todd lead them to the art department of the school and sniffed around; the scent was stronger.

" _Bridget?"_ Todd called out.

A 6 month old puma kitten poked her head out of a classroom.

" _Todd!"_ Bridget said, dashing up to him, and Todd felt his tail wag as their noses touched. _"You're a fox!"_

" _Are you okay?"_ Todd asked. _"Besides being changed into a puma."_

" _Yeah; I mean, the heightened senses are cool and now I'm taller than you,"_ Bridget said and they smiled. _"But I miss my dad."_

" _Don't worry; we're here to help,"_ Todd said and looked back to Duke and Jennifer. _"This is my cousin, Duke Crocker."_

" _Yeah, we talked on the phone,"_ Bridget said. _"Wait, how did he know who I was? We never meet before."_

" _Um, and she's Jennifer's Mason,"_ Todd continued.

" _How did you get in here?"_ Bridget asked.

" _We'll . . . explain later,"_ Todd asked. _"Have you seen Samiir?"_

" _He's in there,"_ Bridget said, indicating the classroom she came out. _"So are Dominic, Taslima, and Marianna. Marianna changed into a baby bird, a parrot I think, and Dominic didn't want to leave her out in the open, so Samiir carried her in here."_

Bridget walked into the classroom and Todd looked at the adults and they all followed her inside, where they saw a year old gorilla, a six month old harpy eagle, and four month old brown rabbit with black stripes. The animals gathered around them and happily greeted Todd as he introduced Duke and Jennifer to them.

" _Todd, is that you?"_ Todd heard Marianna call out.

His friends lead Todd over to a wicker basket on the floor and inside, resting on rags, was a three week old parrot chick.

" _Are you okay, Marianna?"_ Todd asked, looking in.

" _No, I am not. I'm cold and I can't fly,"_ Marianna pouted. _"At least Dominic can fly."_

" _Yeah, barely,"_ the harpy eagle, Dominic said. _"I can only fly a few yards before crashing."_

"Um, Todd," Duke finally spoke up. "Sorry to break up this reunion, but Jennifer and I are completely lost."

Todd then had an idea. _"Hey, Samiir, do you still have your phone?"_

" _I do, but I can't make calls to the outside,"_ Samiir said.

" _No one can,"_ the rabbit, Taslima said. _"Some students tried the computers, but they don't work."_

" _Can you use your phone to try to communicate to them?"_ Todd asked, indicating Duke and Jennifer.

" _I can try,"_ Samiir said, and went over to where he left his phone. He then returned and used his fingers to scribble on the screen. When he was done, Samiir showed the screen to Duke and Jennifer which had ' **SAMIIR** ' written on it. Samiir pointed to the name, then at himself.

"You're Todd's friend, Samiir," Duke said and Samiir nodded as the kids were relieved. Samiir wrote each of their names on his phone, and indicated each one.

"Well, at least now we have a means of communicating," Duke said.

" _Why did my phone work when trying talking to them?"_ Samiir asked.

" _And how did you get in here?"_ Dominic asked Todd.

" _Yeah, I asked him that too,"_ Bridget said.

" _Samiir . . . I need you to give a message to Duke and Jennifer,"_ Todd said. _"Write: 'Explain Troubles, question mark.'_ _They know what I mean."_

Samiir shrugged and wrote the message, then showed it to Duke and Jennifer, indicating that the message was from Todd. Duke then looked at Todd.

"Just give them a general overview and summary; I don't think we have time to go into all the details," Duke said and Todd nodded. Duke then looked at the animals. "Todd will explain what happened, but we need your help to change you back." He then took out the school map. "Show us where you were when you first changed. We also need to know how fast the process was, and who was near you."

With help from Samiir, the kids answered Duke's questions and Jennifer took down notes.

"Okay, we need to interview some more kids to find the epicenter of this Trouble," Duke said after he reviewed the results.

"You want to come with us?" Jennifer asked the kids. "You can help us interview students. The more information we have, the faster we can solve this Trouble."

" _I don't want to leave Marianna alone,"_ Dominic said, looking at his sister.

" _Tell them,"_ Todd said, and Samiir wrote the message and showed it to the adults. Duke and Jennifer looked at each other.

"Bird or clothes?" Jennifer asked.

"I'll take the clothes," Duke said and Jennifer handed him Todd's clothes. She then went over to the basket and picked it up.

" _So, you want to come and help?"_ Todd asked.

" _Yeah,"_ Bridget said and the others kids agreed. _"You still need explain these 'Troubles.'"_

" _I'll explain on the way,"_ Todd said as the animals followed Duke and Jennifer out of the classroom.

* * *

"How did it go?" Nathan asked Paige when she returned from questioning Mrs. Wallace as he hung up his phone.

"She had an internship at a zoo earlier in her career, but she felt she could educate the public better as a teacher," Paige said. "I get the impression that she doesn't compare the school with a zoo. Where's Dwight?"

"He's talking to the lunch ladies and custodians," Nathan said. "Just got off the phone with Duke; Todd completely changed into a grey fox, but they found his friends. They're going to interview the changed students and see if they can locate the epicenter of the Trouble. I told him that we think it's one of the teachers who is Troubled."

Paige nodded. "Okay, good; I'll go help Dwight with the interviews."

* * *

"Well, at least this Trouble is considerate," Jennifer said, seeing that the swimming pool was changed into a large water tank for the students who were transformed into aquatic creatures; the gym locker rooms were also changed into aquatic tanks.

Duke just nodded in response as he and Jennifer wrote down the students' answers. Todd did give a general summary of the Troubles to his friends and they were amazed, and were still willing to help. When Jennifer and Duke were done, a strange scent caught Todd's attention and he began sniffing, trying to find the source. The scent lead him to a covered vent.

"Todd?" Duke asked as the animals gathered around the grey fox.

" _Someone or something was here,"_ Todd said. _"And the scent smells familiar."_

" _Yeah, I smell it as well,"_ Taslima said as her nose twitched and wrinkled a bit.

Samiir informed Duke and Jennifer on what Todd found.

"What does it smell like?" Duke asked.

" _It's kind of hard to describe . . . sleazy?"_ Todd said, and his friends agreed. Samiir showed the adults his message.

"Just be aware of it," Duke said and looked at Jennifer. "I think we have enough information to work off on."

" _I'm hungry,"_ Marianna said, and the others animals agreed. Samiir wrote their message for the adults.

"Sure, we can have a lunch break," Jennifer said, and looked at Duke. "Right?"

Duke nodded. They soon found abandon food stalls and found something for everyone; Duke even laid out bowls of water for them. Dominic, Bridget, and Todd had barbeque meats, Samiir and Taslima had salad and fruit, while Marianna had soft fruit.

" _Nobody better make any jokes about gorillas and bananas,"_ Samiir said as he peeled a banana and begin eating.

The animals laughed, but didn't make fun of him. Todd still felt hungry, but he didn't feel like meat. He then noticed Duke and Jennifer enjoying ice cream. He went up to them, and pawed Jennifer's leg, getting her attention. When she saw Todd, he looked at her with big dark brown fox eyes. Jennifer smiled and gave Todd the rest of her ice cream. Todd heard Duke laugh as he ate.

"Enjoy this while you can, Todd," Duke said, smiling. "Because 'puppy dog eyes,' are not going to work on Gloria."

" _May I have some?"_ Bridget asked, making Todd look up, seeing her across from him.

" _Um, sure,"_ Todd said. _"Wait, you have barbeque sauce on your face."_

" _You have ice cream on your face,"_ Bridget said and softly laughed. _"Where on my face?"_

" _It . . . right . . . let me get it,"_ Todd said and instinctually licked Bridget's face, while she cleaned his. Todd was almost done when he heard faint click and turned to see Duke lowering his phone.

"Don't worry, Todd, I'm not going to send this to _everyone_ ," Duke said and pressed a few buttons. Jennifer's phone then beeped as it received Duke's message. "Only to my friends."

Todd was glad he was now covered in fur to hide his blush. Jennifer then looked over their information.

"Duke, do you see what I see?" Jennifer said and Duke saw what she noticed.

"I think we found our Troubled teacher," Duke said.

* * *

Just as Paige finished her interview with a custodian, her phone rang and saw it was Duke, and answered it.

"Yes, Duke, I got the photo, but . . . you did? You think it's who?" Paige said. She then motioned for Dwight and Nathan to come closer. "I see . . . but that's too obvious . . . yes, she was . . . we'll talk to her."

Paige shared what Duke and Jennifer found out with Dwight and Nathan and then they walked over to a certain teacher.

"Mrs. Bleak?" Paige said, getting the teacher's attention.

"What do you want?" Mrs. Bleak snapped back.

"Why did wanted to be a teacher?" Paige asked.

"Why are asking me this?! Don't you have anything better to do?" Mrs. Bleak said with an angry tone, then she realized something. "YOU! All of you! You're trying to blame me for what's happening! This is getting absurd! You may have gotten the police on your side, but I know some government officials myself! They'll put a stop to this—"

"Can you answer the question?" Dwight asked, and other teachers began to notice them and gathered around.

"Fine! I thought it would I could instill discipline into the students, but the school board is more about 'sparing the rod, spoil the child,' these days. Do you know what you get with that? Wild children!" Mrs. Bleak said.

"Were you thinking that this morning?" Nathan asked. "Before the Family School Carnival started?"

"I don't have to take this abuse!" Mrs. Bleak said. "Keep after me and I'm calling my lawyer!"

"Wait a minute, Dolores, after the meeting, you said—" Mr. Spencer said.

"I can't believe this! You're on their side, Shea?" Mrs. Bleak said.

"I am on the _students'_ side," Mr. Spencer said, then looked at Paige, Dwight, and Nathan. "After the meeting about the Family School Carnival, when we left Dolores said: 'This is ridiculous! We're encouraging kids to act like wild animals, not like civilized human beings.'"

"'We're not working at a school, we're working at a zoo,'" Mrs. Wallace remembered, and everyone looked at Mrs. Bleak.

"I am not responsible for this!" Mrs. Bleak yelled as half of the school changed into a zoo.

"Please, is there a way for her to reverse her Trouble even without her admitting she is Troubled?" Mrs. Lackey asked Paige, Nathan, and Dwight.

"There might be," Paige said and went up to Mrs. Bleak. "Mrs. Bleak, if you think kids are just wild animals, then why are you still teaching?"

"I am not letting you publicly embarrassed me!" Mrs. Bleak exclaimed. "I am leaving!"

"I'll stop her," Dwight said, going after Mrs. Bleak.

Nathan looked at Paige. "Now what do we do?"

"I have an idea," Paige said and got out her phone.

* * *

Jennifer, Todd, and his friends, listened in as Duke put his phone on speaker and heard Paige letting them know that they were right that it is Mrs. Bleak who is Troubled. However their joy didn't last long when they overheard Mrs. Bleak yelling in the background that she would not be involved in this foolishness any longer.

When the kids heard her, Marianna let out a cry of despair, while Samiir smacked his fist into his other hand in frustration and Taslima's ears lowered a bit. As Dominic was trying to comfort Marianna, Bridget ran off; Todd noticed and went after her. He found her in the corner, crying. He put a comforting paw on her shoulder, getting her attention.

" _Mrs. Bleak is never going believe in the Troubles!"_ Bridget said through her tears as Todd put his paw down. Bridget looked at her now furry self. _"I'm going to be stuck as an animal for the rest of my life! I can't live like this, Todd! Dad already lost Mom; he'll have no reason to go on without me!"_

" _They're going to find a way,"_ Todd said and wished he could hug her, so he did the next best thing: he wrapped his tail around hers.

" _What if they don't?"_ Bridget asked, as her tail unconsciously curled around Todd's.

" _You can stay in Haven,"_ Todd said. _"They know strange things; they'll take care of us."_

Bridget rubbed her head against Todd's body. _"Thanks, Todd."_

Todd nodded. _"Let's see if they came up with anything."_

Bridget agreed and rejoined the others. They saw that the other animals had calmed down and Duke didn't have his phone out.

"Paige has an idea to reverse Mrs. Bleak's Trouble," Duke said and looked at Jennifer. "Are you up making another Door?"

Jennifer nodded and went over to a door leading to a classroom. She curled her fingers around the doorknob and concentrated. When she opened the door, in now lead to a garden shed.

"On the other side, we'll be outside of the school," Duke explained when Todd smelled the sleazy scent. "Once we're there, we'll . . . Todd?"

Todd carefully stalked closer to the source of the smell. He then pounced.

" _Got you!"_ Todd exclaimed and the mouse dropped his phone, screaming as Todd trapped the mouse between his paws. Duke, Jennifer and the other animals gathered around them. _"Caesar Scanlon, I knew I smelled something familiar."_

" _Get off of me!"_ Caesar complained and Todd lifted his paw a little, freeing the mouse, who glared at them.

" _What were you doing?"_ Dominic asked, as Samiir picked up Caesar's phone and began working on it.

" _Go ahead and try! You'll never get into my phone!"_ Caesar gloated.

" _Did you say something, Caesar? I was too busy accessing your phone,"_ Samiir said as the other animals smiled proudly at the gorilla, while Caesar's mouth dropped.

Samiir opened the recent history on Caesar's phone. Bridget's ears flatten a little and she growled when she saw what was on Caesar's phone.

" _You were recording us?!"_ Bridget exclaimed. _"Why?!"_

" _Probably going to sell the footage to one of those paranormal shows,"_ Taslima said. _"Like_ The Darkside Seekers. _"_

" _Ha! You think too small! I'm sharing this with Fox News!"_ Caesar said. _"This exposure is going to make me famous! And if you let me go now . . . I'll give you a cut of the credit."_

" _No way, Caesar!"_ Todd replied.

" _Yeah, I thought you side with the freaks, but the rest of you, come on, the public should know,"_ Caesar said, looking at the other animals, but all he got was glares instead. _"What?! Even you, Bridget?"_

" _I don't use people to get what I want!"_ Bridget growled, briefly showing her fangs.

"Okay, I've been patient long enough. What's going on, Todd?" Duke finally asked.

Samiir gave Duke Caesar's phone and explained what happened using his own phone. Caesar tried to sneak away, but Todd spotted him and placed his paw on Caesar's tail, holding him in place.

"All right, I know what to do," Duke said, after Samiir's explanation. Duke then took apart Caesar's phone, removed the memory card, threw on the ground, and stepped on it.

" _My mom will sue you for damages! I'll make sure of it!"_ Caesar yelled, as Duke tossed aside the remains of Caesar's phone.

"What are we going to do with him?" Jennifer asked, indicating the mouse. "I mean, we can't tie him up and leave him in a closet, and we can't take him with us, he'll definitely ruin Paige's idea."

Duke thought about it, then reached for Caesar.

"Be careful; he may bite," Jennifer said, and Duke paused and sighed, knowing Jennifer might be right. He then looked around.

"Keep him here," Duke said to Todd.

Todd nodded back and Duke left. A couple minutes later, Duke came back carrying a bowl, a sheet of paper and a transparent tank.

"Release him," Duke said, after he placed the items down.

Todd freed Caesar, and before Caesar could run off, Duke swiftly placed the bowl over the mouse and slipped the sheet of paper underneath. Todd proudly smiled at his cousin, as Duke transferred Caesar to the transparent tank. Caesar raged inside his new prison.

"That should keep him out of our hair for now," Duke said and looked at the others. "Let's go."

" _Don't think this is over!"_ Caesar yelled as they left through the Door Jennifer made. _"You may have won this battle, but not the war!"_

As Duke closed the Door behind him, Todd heard Caesar laughing like a stereotypical evil genius.

* * *

Paige turned around when she heard people gasping in shock, seeing adolescence animals heading towards them. She then saw Jennifer, carrying a wicker basket, and Duke, carrying Todd's clothes; trotting next to them was a gray fox. Gracia gasped as Dominic landed in front of his parents. Jennifer went to them and awkwardly smiled at them as she handed them the wicker basket.

"Please, just hold on to her; everything will be explained," Jennifer said.

"I had enough of this absurdity!" Mrs. Bleak exclaimed as the rest of the animals tried to reunite with their families. The battery in Samiir's phone had died, so they hoped Paige's plan will work. "This has gone too far! Putting people's lives at stake by releasing wild animals! I don't know how you did it, but once I call—"

"WAIT!" Paige exclaimed, getting everyone's attention. "I know this has been a strange day, and most of you don't know me, but I need you to listen. Look carefully the animals trying to come to you. Don't be afraid, because deep down you will recognize them."

Mrs. Bleak was about to speak up, when Mrs. Wallace grab her arm.

"Give her a chance," Mrs. Wallace said.

"She's doing this to get a point across," Mr. Spencer said.

The adults were still acting wary of the animals. However, Connie paused and examined the gorilla closely. She then walked towards him.

"Momma?" her daughter, Dalila, asked.

Connie looked deeply into the gorilla's eyes and bent down a little.

"Samiir?" Connie asked. "Baby boy? Is that you?"

Samiir smiled and nodded as he went over into his grandmother's welcoming arms and she hugged him. Dalila went over to them.

"Momma, let go of that animal; the stress is getting to you," Dalia said.

"Honey, what kind of grandma would I be if I don't recognize my grandson by his eyes?" Connie said, showing her the gorilla.

"Hold on! This is . . . oh my . . . Samiir? Is that really you?" Dalila said after looking over the gorilla and Samiir went over to his mother and hugged her.

Mrs. Lackey walked up to the gray fox, sitting next to Duke and studied him.

"Todd?" Mrs. Lackey asked. Todd nodded back and Mrs. Lackey smiled. "I knew your spirit animal was a grey fox!"

Myron stopped himself from backing away from the puma kitten coming closer to him and looked at her closely.

"Sweetie?" Myron asked.

Bridget wanted to cry in joy as she ran to her father and rubbed his legs, purring.

"My children," Gracia said, as she cried, closely holding the wicker basket with her daughter inside, while her husband patted Dominic head.

An Asian woman picked up the rabbit as Taslima's family gathered around her.

"Please, please, is there a way to change my children back?" Gracia asked Paige.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure," Paige said, quickly looking at Mrs. Bleak. "I . . . don't know how long this will last."

Myron noticed Bridget's sad face. "There has to be a way, sweetie; Dad's not going to leave your side just because you have a tail now."

"The Tan family are loyal to one another," Taslima's father said in a proud voice.

"We are always family," Gracia said and Erasmo nodded.

"We will find a way," Dalila said to Samiir.

"Grandma still loves you," Connie said, smiling at the gorilla.

Duke and Jennifer just smiled at Todd; he already knew they cared for him.

Paige looked at Mrs. Bleak. "You might believe that kids are just wild animals, but look at their families. Even as wild animals, they still love their children."

Mrs. Bleak was silent for a moment. "I suppose . . . that's true."

The barrier surrounding the school disappeared. The school slowly changed back as animals came out and reunited with their families.

"What about the kids? Why are they still animals?" Dwight asked, looking at the students.

"She's still in denial about the Troubles," Paige realized, looking at Mrs. Bleak.

"Now what?" Todd said, and everyone looked at him.

"Todd?" Duke said, looking at the grey fox. "Say something."

"What? Why?" Todd asked, then realized everyone was staring at him.

"We . . . just understood you," Jennifer said.

"Dad?" Bridget said and Myron smiled.

"Welcome back, Bridget," Myron said and hugged his daughter.

"Okay, so they can talk now," Nathan said, seeing the happy families. "It appears the more we convince Mrs. Bleak, the faster her Trouble lessens."

"I think we need to talk more, Mrs. Bleak," Paige said, and took her aside.

* * *

Because it was apparent it would take time to convince Mrs. Bleak about her Trouble, Duke decided that they should head home since there was nothing more he could do. He saw Todd talking to his friends and was about to get him when Jennifer motioned that she wanted to speak to him in private.

"Do you think your friend can convince Mrs. Bleak to change us back?" Dominic asked.

"Paige has a history of helping the Troubled," Todd said. "A very long history."

"Well, it was great seeing you again," Samiir said. "Even as an animal."

Todd smiled. "Yeah, me too."

"I'll call as soon as I have hands again," Bridget said. "Hopefully before the Harvest Moon Dance."

"I think it will be resolved before then," Todd said.

"Come on, Todd, we should get going," Duke said, when he got to the group of animals. "Gloria called and asked how you were, and . . . I better tell her before she hears what happened from someone else. I also have to help Jennifer with her crazy idea for Mrs. Lackey."

* * *

Mrs. Lackey looked around in awe as Jennifer lead her into the armory.

"Anne?"

Mrs. Lackey turned around to see Vince walking up to her.

"Anne? What? How? Why are you here?" Vince asked, then looked at Jennifer.

"She helped us with the Trouble in Delain," Jennifer explained. "I think she deserves to know what happened to you."

"Oh, Anne," Vince said and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "We both need to sit down."

Jennifer waited outside the armory to give Anne and Vince privacy to talk. When Vince was done talking, Anne placed her hand on his cheek.

"You're still silly, do you know that?" Anne said and Vince chuckled.

"I know, but so are you," Vince said. "Spending your life alone."

"So did you."

"I have . . . had Dave."

"And now look at you," Anne said. "Trapped for all eternity with the man who murdered your brother. It would drive me insane."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

"What do you mean?" Anne asked.

"I think I need to make up for time," Vince said, kindly looking at Anne. "Your time and my time."

"Vince, what are you saying?" Anne said. "Are you asking—"

"I can show you things you never imagined," Vince said. "And, I think you could keep me sane."

"But, Vince, I can't leave just now," Anne said. "I-I have my students and—"

"Summer Vacation is just months from now, right?" Vince said. "I think I can wait until then."

"Well . . . I was thinking of retiring in about 5 years," Anne said and looked at Vince. "Maybe I could plan to have it earlier."

"So, will you?"

"I believe I will," Anne answered, smiling.

* * *

At _The Cape Rouge,_ Duke, Jennifer, and Todd found Gloria waiting for them.

"I just had to see this for myself," Gloria said and looked at Todd. "You just had to get zapped by a Trouble again."

"Does this mean that I can't stay with Duke over the weekend?" Todd asked.

Gloria sighed. "No, you didn't intentionally get changed into a fox, and I don't think Linc will get used to having a wild animal inside the house, so, yes, you can stay with Duke and Jennifer." Gloria then looked at the adults. "Do you know how long he's going to stay like this?"

"He is a little bigger since we left Delain," Jennifer said, looking at Todd. "Hopefully Paige can convince Mrs. Bleak before the weekend is over."

"At least he doesn't have fleas, does he?" Gloria said.

"I don't . . . think so," Duke said, as they watch Todd scratch behind his ears with his hind foot. He then became aware of them staring at him.

"I had an itch," Todd defensively said. "I do not have fleas."

"Maybe I should drop off Reinette's flea solution just in case," Gloria said.

"I would know if I had fleas," Todd grumbled and walked away. When he got into his room, he found Reinette was on his bed, waking up from her nap. She stood up, yawned and stretched, then noticed the grey fox.

' _DOG!'_ Reinette screamed as her tail got bushy and her ears flatted against her head. She hissed at Todd. _'Must survive! Go away!'_

"No; Reinette, it's me, Todd," Todd said. Reinette relaxed as her tail calmed down.

' _Why is_ _dog sad that I'm upset? Doesn't act like a dog . . . '_ Reinette said and studied Todd. She then jumped down and sniffed Todd. _'Smells like a dog, but smells like my Todd . . . why is Todd now a dog?'_

"Well, it wasn't by choice," Todd began.

' _Okay, then, since Todd is like me, let's play!'_ Reinette said.

"Wait? What?" Todd asked.

Reinette then pounced on Todd's tail.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Todd exclaimed, trying to save his tail.

' _Then catch me! Catch my tail!'_ Reinette said, playfully nipping at Todd's ears before she ran off, and Todd found himself chasing after her, and soon found himself having fun.

The adults watched Todd and Reinette run around the sofa, laughing and playing.

"So, did anything happen while we were gone?" Duke asked as he poured them a drink.

Gloria shook her head. "I received a call from McHugh before I came here; no reports of dangerous Troubles or the Void."

"Then why did the Void wanted us out of Haven?" Jennifer asked as Duke gave the women their drinks.

"I'm afraid we'll get the answer sooner than we like," Gloria said.

The tension was forgotten when they heard Todd protesting and saw that Reinette had pinned him down and was now cleaning his face, causing them to laugh.

* * *

A short time later, Reinette and Todd had worn themselves out playing, and soon the adults found the two curled up together on Todd's bed, sleeping; Duke took the opportunity to take another picture while Jennifer escorted Gloria out.

"I forgot to ask, how are you going to make that no one shares what happened at Patrick Danville Middle School?" Gloria asked before she left.

"Vince is going to use his power as the Controller to alter most of their memories; it was Spirit Animal Day instead," Jennifer said. "I mean, he's not going use that power on Todd's friends, Caesar, or the teachers we trust, or –"

"I get the picture," Gloria said, then paused. "Wait, Caesar? Why did Vince want him to remember?"

"I asked Vince to have Caesar retain the memory," Jennifer said. "I think he should remember his lesson in humility."

"Well, I hope it works," Gloria said. "So, Vince can do that from here?"

"Not exactly; I'm going to help out . . . somehow . . . it's very complex . . ." Jennifer said and checked the time. "In fact, Duke's going to drive me there; he wanted to be there in case . . . you know . . . something happens."

"If you like, call if you want me to check up on the kit—kid," Gloria said.

"All right; thank you."

* * *

It didn't take long to help Vince, and when Duke and Jennifer came back, it looked like Todd and Reinette were still asleep. Duke went to check on them, then quickly stepped out of the room.

"Duke, what—" Jennifer began, but Duke signaled her to be silent and went to get a blanket.

Jennifer peered in to see Duke covering Todd, now human, still sleeping with Reinette. Duke was about to leave, when Todd stirred in his sleep, and shook his head as he woke up. He looked down and smiled seeing hands and skin, not paws and fur, . . . and that he was naked. Todd quickly wrapped the blanket around himself even before he knew he wasn't alone in the room. When he did noticed Duke and Jennifer, Todd dashed into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Can I have some clothes?" Todd asked.

Duke got some clothes and knocked on the bathroom door, and soon Todd's arm came out and he thanked Duke as he got his clothes.

"Come out for dinner when you're ready," Duke said and he and Jennifer left so Todd could dress in peace.

As Jennifer and Duke were about to sit down to eat, Todd came out to join them.

"Did you forget how to get dress?" Duke teased as Todd sat down.

"Bridget called me; everyone's human again," Todd said as he severed himself some food.

"I better let Vince know to begin soon," Jennifer said and explained to Todd what Vince was going to do.

"So what are we going to do about Mrs. Bleak's Trouble?" Todd said and looked at Duke. "I mean . . . are you going remove it?"

"Todd, I have seen some really disgusting things in Haven, and I'm not adding being close to Mrs. Bleak's face to the list," Duke said and Todd had to laugh before he became serious.

"But what's preventing her from accidently activating her Trouble again?" Todd asked.

"Well . . . when Jennifer was over at the armory, I overheard Croatoan was still weak from the Void's attack on him," Duke said and smiled. "Since he removed the Age Swap Trouble from us—"

"When did that happened?" Jennifer asked.

"We'll . . . explain later," Duke said. "Anyway, since he helped us, I thought I should do something nice for him to help him recover; so . . . with Vince's permission of course . . . I let him take Mrs. Bleak's Trouble. However, because he was now outside of the armory, he had to get really close to Mrs. Bleak to remove it."

Todd dropped his fork laughing so hard.

"Mrs. Bleak was really pleased meeting Croatoan," Duke said, laughing along with Todd.

"Croatoan was not," Jennifer said, trying to sound serious, but had a hard time and smiled. "He was about to use that Trouble on Duke when Vince summoned back him to the armory; I thought for a second Croatoan was going to change him into an otter."

Duke looked at Jennifer and grinned. "Me? An otter?"

"Well . . . you remind me of an otter," Jennifer said, blushing a little and that topic let to a fun conversation and for the rest of the night until it everyone went to bed.

* * *

Todd woke up from his sleep feeling the whole _Cape Rouge_ violently shaking. Reinette's tail got bushy as she hissed.

' _Too scary! Dangerous!'_ she exclaimed and went under the covers. _'Hide until gone.'_

Todd was still panting when the shaking stopped and soon Jennifer ran into his room.

"Todd! Are you okay?" Jennifer asked.

Just as Todd nodded back, they heard Duke calling them from above deck.

When they got there, they saw the same thing Duke was seeing: the entire town of Haven was hovering above a foggy forest.

"Where are we?" was the first thing Todd asked and Jennifer's eyes widen in horror.

"We're in the Void," Jennifer said.

 


	12. End of the Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Thanks to TRDowden1 who recharged my imagination when it was dull.

Ch. 12: End of the Innocence

“Can you explain how we ended up in the Void?” Dwight asked Vince as Jennifer, Duke, and Todd joined them.

In order to help protect the people of Haven from further attacks by the Void, Vince agreed to allow Dwight, Nathan and the Guard to help bring people into the armory, once he had taken Croatoan out, to 'help keep him from temptation,' as he called it.

Once the safety of the townspeople was ensured, Dwight, Vince and Nathan called together a joint meeting of Haven PD and Guard members at the police station, along with others who had volunteered to join the fight.

There were curious looks in the crowd as they watched Todd walk alongside Vince and Duke as they moved to the front of the room.

"What's happened in Haven?!  I thought that none of this could happen anymore!" a member of the Guard called out to Vince.

"It would appear that the Void has reach the end of its patience and now wants all of the energized Aether it can collect," Croatoan answered in Vince's stead.  "It has covered over Haven with Aether so that it can pull this whole place into its dimension."

“The reason The Void Troubled Mrs. Bleak is because Paige, Duke, and quite possibly Jennifer and Todd could sense the increase in Aether and try to stop it,” Vince continued. 

“Since people from your world cannot survive in the Void for long, it’s just going to wait until you are weak enough to gather the energized Aether,” Croatoan said.

“Nathan, could you survive the Void for two hours?” Paige asked.

“I was getting weaker the longer I was there, but yes, I think a human could survive for two hours in the Void,” Nathan said.

"Which means we have two hours to find a way to escape from here," Dwight replied, and then looked at Vince.  "Do you think it still can't sense Troubles while they're contained in the armory?"

“Yes, but I don’t know for how long,” Vince said, getting everyone’s attention.  “The Barn wasn’t designed to have so many people within it, I afraid it’s only a matter of time before it starts to degrade.”

“So . . . does anyone have a plan how to destroy a sentient dimension?” Jennifer finally asked.

“We do,” Vince said.  “But involves Todd and his Trouble . . .”

“Did Croatoan come up with this plan?” Gloria asked.  “Because Vince, you’re not crazy enough to come up with a plan that has such an obvious downside.”

“I’m sorry, Gloria, but Todd and his Trouble are vital to stop the Void,” Vince said.

“Over my dead body,” Gloria said and got up.  “Come on, Todd, let’s get you into the armory.”

“But I want to help,” Todd said.

“We’re good coming up with another dumb plan,” Gloria said, and Duke stood up.

“Gloria . . . let’s talk outside,” Duke said and escorted Gloria out into the hallway.

“Don’t tell me you want to listen to the rest of the plan!” Gloria exclaimed once they were far enough away from the room.  “I can’t believe you!  Sacrificing the only family you have!”

“I am not, Todd is willing to help,” Duke said.

“He’s not even old enough to vote!” Gloria said.  “As his legal guardian . . . I won’t allow him!”

“What if Vince’s plan is the only way?” Duke said.  “We haven’t heard what it is yet. “

Gloria looked in at Todd.  “He’s too much like you,” she noted.  “Too willing to give his life away to save others.”

“You’re right, he is like me in so many ways, like be willing to do something that could ruin his life to save others; like how I had to kill Ben to end the Harker Trouble,” Duke observed, and Gloria glared at him, but relented a little when she saw from his expression that he was well aware he'd broached a sore subject with her.  Duke put his hand on her shoulder.  “You knew if there had been any other way, I wouldn’t have done it.  We have to stop the Void before it devours all of Haven; we need Todd.”

Gloria was silent for a moment.

“I’m still against it, but let’s listen,” Gloria said, then she and Duke went back inside and sat down.

“So what’s your brilliant bad plan?” Gloria asked.

“First we need to explain that the Void . . . mainly the dimension, not it’s . . . mind, if you will . . . is very important,” Croatoan said.  “In your terms, the void is a keystone; without it, dimensions will fall apart and collapse.”

“Which is why we’re going after it’s mind, which inhabits William now,” Vince said.

“Simply put, we’re going to perform a lobotomy on the Void,” Croatoan said, getting everyone’s attention.

“How are we going to do that?” Paige asked.

“We’re going to bombard the Void with Pellucid Aether,” Vince said.  “Since Todd can control Pellucid Aether, all he needs to do fill William’s body with Pellucid Aether, thus poisoning and destroying the Void, leaving the dimension unharmed, and hopefully the dimension will return Haven back.”  He then looked at Gloria.  “Todd doesn’t need to get close to the Void to make it work.”

“I’ll make sure members of the Guard will be there with him,” Dwight said.

“And the police,” Nathan added.

Gloria sighed.  “Okay, the plan is not as stupid as I thought.  Kid already has a collection of Pellucid Aether.  Think that will be enough?”

“Just to be sure, we’re going to gather more Aether,” Vince said and looked at Paige.  “Paige, we need you to make another Aether core.”

“Make it two,” Croatoan said.

“Oh, yes, two,” Vince said.

“Two?” Paige asked.

“The larger amount of Pellucid Aether, the faster the Void’s mind will be destroyed,” Croatoan said.  “You know what an Aether core is capable of; imagine what a Pellucid Aether core can do.”

“Does Todd really need to purify two Aether cores?” Gloria asked.

“No, just one; the other one is for Duke,” Vince said, getting Duke’s attention.  “Paige, you must use the Aether core on Duke, like how Mara Troubled people.  Don't worry, the Aether core won't Trouble Duke.  Crockers were meant to be Trouble collectors; but Duke will control the Aether core, no one else.  It will help to enhance his–performance."

"’Enhance my performance’?" Duke parroted. "You mean like steroids?  You're giving me Aether steroids?"

 “No,” Vince firmly said, then paused, and thought about it.  “Well . . . yes.”

“And the reason you have to do this . . . is?” Duke asked.

“The Void will know we’re trying to end it and attempt to escape; you must prevent the Void from fleeing until Todd is done with the Pellucid Aether,” Vince said.  “Having the Aether core powering you will be an asset.”

“Will it harm him?” Jennifer and Todd simultaneously asked, making Gloria smile.

“I’m afraid it will and we don’t know how it will hurt him,” Vince said.

“How do we get the Aether core out of Duke before it harms him?” Gloria asked.

“We’ll, um . . . cross that bridge when we get to it,” Vince confessed and Gloria rolled her eyes.

“I’ll do it,” Duke said, making Gloria, Jennifer and Todd look at him.  “We need to return Haven.”

“Just try not to die again,” Gloria said.

“Where do we get the Aether?” Nathan asked.

“I will show you,” Croatoan said, making everyone stare at him.  “I’m not going to escape knowing the Void is out there, wanting to feast on me.  I have been in the Void for centuries; I know the best places to gather large amounts of Aether.”

“I’m afraid he’s right,” Vince replied, and no one protested the matter further.

“I guess that’s settled,” Croatoan said.  “Are you ready to go, Dove?”

“I’m coming too,” Nathan said.  “To protect Paige if the Void finds us.”

“Fine, your loyal guard dog can come too,” Croatoan said.

Nathan glared at Croatoan, but said nothing.

“I think it’s a good idea to have members of the Guard and the police join you,” Dwight said and Croatoan had no objection.

“Plus me,” Duke said and Jennifer, Gloria, and Todd stared at him.  “If the Void does find them, I need to be close by so Paige can use the Aether core on me.”

“Unfortunately, I agree; Duke should come with us,” Paige said and Gloria gave her a quick glare, disappointed that Paige didn’t refuse Duke’s offer.

After a few more minutes of planning, everyone left to get ready.  Jennifer, Gloria, Todd, and Duke gathered in a room.

“Why did you have to volunteer, Duke?  Why?” Gloria asked.

“Maybe I feel . . . guilty . . . about the last crisis?” Duke guessed.

“I know it’s useless to say this, but try to be careful,” Jennifer said and Duke brought her close to him and kissed Jennifer on top of her head.  When they were done, Todd stepped forward.

“You’re family . . . my parents are in a coma . . . I don’t want to lose another family member,” Todd said and he and Duke hugged.

“I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for Haven,” Duke softly said to Todd, then looked at him.  “Let make a promise to each other: we’ll stay alive, so for your Summer Vacation, we’ll go on a trip on _The Cape Rouge_.”

“Really?”

“Really.  Oh, and if you have no objections, Jennifer's coming with us," Duke grinned, glancing at her.  "Right?"

“Oh, yes, right!  I would love it!” Jennifer said and smiled.

“I hope you both keep your promises,” Gloria said and gave Duke and Todd a hug, then looked at Duke.  “I think I finally figured you out.  You kept taking risks because you thought no one will miss you, well, take a look around: you have a kid who sees you as a big brother and a woman who loves you . . . then there’s me.  If that doesn’t give a reason to not take any risks, then . . . I’m all out of ideas.”

Duke smiled and hugged her before he left.

* * *

Croatoan walked through a field with Paige, Nathan and Duke, along with a few members of the Guard and police.

So far, they hadn't seen any sign of the Void.  Croatoan and others stopped in the middle of the field in front of a good-size rock.  Flowing from the top of the rock was a black, thick, oil-looking liquid.

“Aether,” Paige said, recognizing a liquid.

“You remember how you did it before?” Croatoan said and Paige nodded.

Croatoan took Paige’s hand and they both closed their eyes and concentrated.   They each raised their other hand and began moving them in a perpendicular pattern.  As they did so, Nathan instructed the others with them to surround Paige and Croatoan. 

Duke scanned the field, keeping a weather eye out for the Void, in between watching Croatoan and Paige, and he observed that the Aether had begun forming into small spheres and was now floating up into the sky.

Just as he was wondering how they were going to create two Aether spheres, a scream caught everyone's attention.

They were horrified to see not only the Void just as it broke a police officer's neck, but that it had also created a gang of Aether-men.  Duke swore as he got out his gun and shot at the nearest Aether man.  Luckily, the Aether men disintegrated after they were shot, but bullets did nothing to slow down the Void.  A female member of the Guard released a noxious gas from her mouth, but it did not faze the Void as it grabbed her and began feed on her Trouble. 

Duke really wanted to ask Paige if she was making any progress with the Aether cores, but remembered that Croatoan said that they shouldn’t be interrupted because they would lose concentration.

Duke was about to reload, when he noticed who the Void chose as its next meal: Nathan.  Duke put away his gun and took out his knife, then he looked around.

“Stan!” Duke said, getting the officer’s attention.  “I need you to distract it!”

“B-but bullets don’t work!” Stan said.

“I know how to save Nathan, but I need you to distract the Void!” Duke said.  “Try something else!”

Stan looked around and asked members of the Guard to cover him, as the Void began to feast on Nathan.  Stan picked up a rock and somehow hit the arm that was holding Nathan, which made the Void drop Nathan.  The Void saw Stan and snarled before heading towards him.

Duke ran over to Nathan and before Nathan realized it, Duke cut his arm.

“Duke?  What?  Don’t—“ was all Nathan could say before Duke placed his face close to him and inhale deeply.   Nathan gasped as his sense of touch returned and Duke’s eyes changed back to brown.  Nathan sat up as the Aether sphere materialized in Duke’s palm. 

“What have you done?” was first thing Nathan said as both men stood up.

“I saved your life again; now shut up, check on Paige and don’t worry about me,” Duke said and looked at the Void.

Duke whistled, getting the Void’s attention, and he showed the Void the Aether sphere.  “Hey!  Do you want this?  Then get it!”

Duke then ran off, away from his friends, hoping the Void would be more interested in him, and it was.  Duke was about to enter a forest, when an Aether man materialized in front of him, causing him to stop.

“Oh, come on!  That’s cheating!” Duke had to say before the Aether man grabbed Duke’s throat with one hand and his wrist with the other.  Just as the Aether man was about to choke Duke, a shot rang out and the Aether man disintegrated. 

“Duke!” Nathan said, putting away his gun, as Duke stumbled a little, trying to regain his sense of balance.  Nathan and Paige ran to Duke’s side.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Duke said, nodding. 

“Duke,” Paige said, getting his attention; in her hands was the Aether core.  “Are you ready?”

“No, but do it,” Duke said.

Paige had to smile and closed her eyes as she pressed the Aether core against Duke’s chest.

It felt . . . it was hard to describe what it felt, but it was different from all the times Mara meddled with his Trouble; all he felt was the Aether core changing him.  Duke closed his eyes as he inhaled and exhaled deeply as Paige removed her hand.

“Duke?” Paige said, but got no response as the Aether sphere melted into Duke’s palm.  “Are you . . . still . . . Duke?”

“Yes and no,” Duke answered as he opened his eyes and Paige and Nathan were astonished.  Duke’s sclera were now black and his irises were silver.  “I’m me . . . but more . . . but I know what to do . . . Is the other Aether core done?”

Paige nodded.  “Croatoan is going to teleport the surviving members of the police and the Guard and himself to where we’re going to meet Todd.”

“He can teleport?” Duke said, then smiled.  “Let’s see if I can get there before him.”

Before Paige or Nathan could say anything, Duke wrapped an arm around their waists.  “Hold on tight.”

Duke ran faster than any human could; the scenery was just a blur for Paige and Nathan.  Duke stopped when he saw Jennifer, Gloria, and Todd, who was holding one of his notebooks.

“Oh, Duke . . . wow,” Jennifer said, when she saw Duke’s eyes as he let go of Paige and Nathan.

“Um, you do look cool,” Todd said.

Duke smiled at him and a second later, Croatoan appeared with the survivors, holding his Aether core.  Croatoan did seem a little annoyed when he saw Duke arrived before him, but Duke was relieved to see Stan was among the survivors.  An inhuman roar got everyone’s attention and they saw the Void coming towards them.  Croatoan gave the Aether core to Todd as the Void came closer.

“What are you waiting for?  Purify it!” Croatoan demanded.

“I’m trying!  It’s not working!” Todd said.

“What’s different?” Jennifer kindly asked.

“All the Aether I purified before . . . they came from Duke,” Todd said.

“Then let’s try this,” Duke said and got out his knife.  He then cut his palm and let his blood land on the Aether sphere in Todd’s hands.  Todd’s eyes immediately lit up as Duke’s cut healed itself and Todd began to purify the Aether core.

“Dad, please get the others to safety,”  Paige said.

Croatoan nodded and teleported away with the others.

Duke then turned attention to the Void, who was still heading towards them.  Duke ran at high speeds at the Void and punched it.  Duke found out not only his speed was enhanced, but his strength, reflexes, and stamina as well, but he didn’t know how long the Aether core could help him.  He checked back at Todd and saw that he completely purified the Aether core.  Todd’s notebook lay in front of his feet and it flipped opened by an unknown force.  Pellucid Aether floated out of the notebook and flew around Todd.  Duke had to smile; so that’s where Todd hid the Pellucid Aether he collected.  The Pellucid Aether circled around Todd one more time before Todd directed the Pellucid Aether at the Void.  The Pellucid Aether launched themselves at the Void and the Void was thrown back every time a Pellucid Aether sphere hit it.

Finally, the Void roared and dark clouds came out of the mouth and eyes and into the skies.  When the last of the dark clouds left, the body _collapsed_ onto the ground and Todd’s eyes returned to their original color.

“Did it work?” Gloria asked.

“Then what’s that?” Nathan asked, indicating the dark clouds swirling in the sky, growing larger.

“Mara?”

Paige looked and saw . . . William, trying to sit up, but he didn’t have the strength.  Paige ran to his side and Nathan, Jennifer, Gloria, Duke, and Todd joined her.

“William?” Paige asked, seeing that William returned to his former self.  He looked at Paige and laughed.

“They made you change again, huh?  What do they call you now?  Never mind, it doesn’t matter,” William said, and laughed and then winced. 

“Lie still, we’ll get you to the hospital,” Paige said and William laughed again.

“That’s not going to work; the Void destroyed my internal organs, I can feel it,” William winced and pointed to the sky.  “It’s angry.”

“That’s the Void?!” Jennifer exclaimed, looking at the growing dark clouds.

“Give her a prize,” William said.  “I know what’s it’s going to do; it’s going to swallow Haven and use all the energized Aether to enter their . . . your world, then next stop: my world.”

“William, the Void was inside you; do you know it’s weakness?” Paige asked.

“I know how to save your town,” William said and reached into his pocket and took out the ring Nathan gave him.  He gave the ring to Paige and then pointed to Jennifer.  “Give it to her; it will increase her . . . whatever you call it now . . . anyway, with the ring, she can now transport Haven back to where it belongs.”

“William, how do we beat the Void?” Paige asked again.

William looked at Paige, smiled, and laughed, then stopped moving.  Gloria checked his vitals.

“He’s dead,” Gloria stated.

“How am I going to use the ring?” Jennifer anxiously asked.

“Put it on,” Paige said and Jennifer did what she said.  “Remember, intent and focus.”

“Let us help,” Duke said and took out his knife and looked at Todd.  “Todd?”

Todd understood and balanced the Pellucid Aether core in one hand as he offered his other hand.  Duke cut Todd’s palm and let his blood land on the ring.  Duke then cut his own palm and let his blood land on the ring.  Jennifer gasped as she felt the boost of power from Duke and Todd.

“I can do this,” Jennifer said and concentrated. 

Light appeared underneath Haven as the town began lowering into it.  However, the skies darken as the Void began to merge back to its physical presence.  Duke coughed and spat out thick black mucus. 

“We have to fight off the Void so Jennifer can return us!” Paige said.

“How?” Nathan asked.

Todd looked at Duke, who was beginning having difficulty standing, then at the Pellucid Aether core in his hand and came up with an insane, but good idea.  With both hands, he pressed the Pellucid Aether core against his chest.

“Todd!  What are you doing?!” Gloria exclaimed, getting everyone’s attention.

Duke tried to stop Todd, but he reached his limit of containing the Aether core, and stumbled as the Pellucid Aether core entered Todd’s body.

Todd’s eyes lit up again, but brighter than before, and the light had an iridescence shine, as some of his veins began to illuminate.  He looked at the adults.

“I love you all,” Todd said and flew up into the sky until he was nothing a speck. 

Duke gasped as the Aether core floated out of him and was purified as his eyes changed back to their original color.  They saw Troubles floating up to Todd and being purified.  Soon all the Favors launched themselves at the Void’s mind multiple times.  Haven shook as the Void lost it’s control of the town.  Paige felt Haven return to their world as the dark sky seemed to implode.  Haven shook again as it settled back to it’s original ground and Jennifer lost her balance, but Paige caught her.  It then snowed Favors, each seeking someone special.  They saw the Pellucid Aether core explore like fireworks and the remains of the Pellucid Aether shot off in different directions, outside of Haven.   Nathan looked astonished as a Favor floated into him as Duke looked curious as a Favor entered him.  A second later, Jennifer finally spoke as Paige let her go.

“Is . . . is the Void . . . gone?” Jennifer asked.

“The Void’s mind is no more,” Paige said, feeling it.

“Todd,” Duke said as he got up, still feeling light headed.  “Where is he?  Does anyone see him?”

“He landed in the park,” Nathan said and everyone stared at him.

“How do you know _that_?” Duke asked.

“I saw it . . . my senses . . . they seemed sharper than before,” Nathan said causing everyone to stare at him again.

“Let’s marvel later; let’s find Todd now,” Gloria said and they headed to the park.

On the way there, they ran into Dwight and informed him what happened.  Once they reached the park, they began searching for Todd.

“Over there!” Dwight said, seeing Todd sprawled out on the grass, unconscious. 

Duke was the first to reach him and knelt down besides the boy.

 “Todd, hey,” Duke said in a soft voice, and checked his vitals.  Todd was still breathing and he had a pulse.  “We’re back; I think we also defeated the Void.”

Todd didn’t respond.

“Todd?” Duke asked, starting to get concerned as he tried to wake the boy.  “Todd?”

“What’s wrong with him?” Jennifer anxiously asked as Dwight called for medical assistance.

“Todd?  _Todd?!_ ” 


	13. A Young Boy's Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Thanks for everyone who read and enjoyed the story! Very Special thanks to TRDowden1 for all the help and support! I could have never done this without you!
> 
> This chapter contains a poem written by Paul Lawrence Duncan, who owns the poem, not me.
> 
> If the public requests it, there may be a sequel to this story.

 Ch. 13: A Young Boy’s Heart

Duke looked up to check on Todd, but nothing changed.

Todd was immediately rushed to the hospital after he was found, but the doctors couldn’t find what was wrong with him or on what had caused his condition; it was as though he was in a deep slumber that that no one could wake him from.

Vince and Croatoan were also at a loss, and Croatoan even volunteered the use of his powers to see if it could help Todd, but Duke was against it.

“Look, um, I know he controlled you, but . . . don’t hold out on saving Todd just because of a . . . grudge,” Jennifer told Duke, after she saw Duke decline Croatoan’s offer.

Duke ran his hand through his hair and sighed before he replied.  “If Todd isn’t awake in a month, then maybe, maybe I’ll consider his offer.” 

According to Vince, Todd did not only change every Trouble into a Favor, but somehow the world was changed because of the explosions of the Pellucid Aether cores.  Vince wasn’t sure _how_ the world was changed, but he knew there was _a_ change. 

Duke sighed as he looked at Todd; too bad the kid wasn’t awake to enjoy the changed new world.

Everyone who visited Todd tried to interact with him.  Nathan told Todd about all the new Favors, about how all five of his senses of heightened, and that now Dwight was _bulletproof_.  Even though he was against it, Dwight finally let Lizzie see Todd so she could tell her stories about the adventures of Lizzie the Lion-Hearted to him.  Dwight shared the news of how Todd’s friends contacted them when they didn’t hear from Todd and they had to tell his friends that Todd was in an accident and he couldn’t have visits just yet because they didn’t want to break the children’s hearts.  He also told Todd that his parents awoke from their comas and had to tell them that Todd was in an accident as well.

Jennifer read _Winne-the Pooh_ to Todd.  Paige told Todd on how the world was changed, like there were sightings of gryphons in Salem, while reports of fairies came from Boston.   With help from Jennifer, Gloria snuck in Reinette to visit Todd and the cat could sense something was wrong.

_‘Sad,’_ Reinette once told Gloria.  _‘Want Todd back.’_

Gloria stroked Reinette’s head.  “I know, so do I.” 

Duke sighed again and blinked his eyes, trying to stay awake.  He leaned in close to Todd.

“Hey,” Duke whispered to Todd.  “I know everyone told you all about the Favors and what they can do, but not me.  Why?  Because I’m not telling you until you wake up, Todd.  So wake up so I can tell you and show you what I can do now.”

Duke looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Gloria. 

“Any news from the doctors?” Duke asked.

“Sorry, kiddo, nothing new from them,” Gloria said.  “How about you get some sleep and I take over?  You know it’s useless trying to argue with me, so go sleep.  Paige and Nathan are coming over and bringing Jennifer with them; take her out for a nice lunch.”

Duke had to smile at Gloria as she let Reinette out of her bag and the cat nested close to Todd.  “Thanks, Gloria.”

Gloria responded with a nod as Duke got up and left.  He found a small sofa to take a nap and he quickly fell asleep.

* * *

“Duke,” a familiar voice said, waking up him.  “Pay attention; this is important.”

Duke sat up and saw sitting across from him was Walter Faraday.

“What . . . how . . .?” Duke got out.  “Why . . .?”

“I’m just waiting on a friend,” Walter causally said.  “You’re looking in the wrong place.”

“What?”

“Todd Beale-Grant is not here,” Walter calmly said.  “He’s just lost, distracted by the wonders of undiscovered realities.”

Duke believed he understood Walter’s message: Todd’s mind was somewhere else and that’s why he hadn’t woken up.

“How do I find him?” Duke asked.  “Where is he?”

Walter gave Duke a thin smile.  “You know how: blood will always call out for blood,” Walter then looked down the hall.  “My friend’s here.”

“Wait!” Duke said, standing up and for a moment, awestruck seeing Walter walking up to a giant anteater before he continued.  “What are you talking about?  Where is Todd?!  Stop!”

* * *

“Duke?  Duke?”

Duke woke up when he felt someone shake his shoulder and saw Jennifer looking at him.

“Are you okay?  Were you having a nightmare?  You were mumbling: ‘Stop!  Stop!’ in your sleep,” Jennifer asked as Duke stood up.

“I—“ Walter’s words came back to Duke and he finally understood.  “I know where to find Todd.”

Jennifer was confused and curious and chased after Duke into Todd’s room.  Before anyone could speak or react, Duke got out his knife and cut his palm.

Just as Jennifer touched Duke’s shoulder, a drop of Duke’s blood landed in Todd’s mouth, then—

* * *

 “Duke?  Where are we?” Jennifer asked, finding herself and Duke floating in space with the lights of the aurorae, supernovas, galaxies, and suns of different colors for scenery.

“Wherever Todd is,” Duke said, watching a quasar pulse.

“How am I—“ Jennifer started to say.

_‘Shiny thing!’_ Reinette exclaimed flying past them, trying to catch a small comet. 

“Um, how are we here?” Jennifer asked, indicating herself and Reinette.

“You were touching me and Reinette was lying next to Todd; I guess being in physical contact with us drew you both in,” Duke guessed. 

“How are we going to find Todd?” Jennifer asked and Reinette stopped her chase as her ears perked up.

_‘Let’s find Todd!’_ Reinette said, floating up to them.

“So . . . where do we start?” Jennifer asked, looking around.

“We go over there,” Duke said, indicating a certain area.

“Why?”

“I don’t know . . . my instincts tell me to start our search there,” Duke said.

That actually made sense to Jennifer and she, Duke, and Reinette began their search of Todd.  They flew past dancing stars, and galaxies changing colors, until they reached a floating door.

“Duke . . . there’s a door in front of us,” Jennifer said. 

“Yeah, I see it too,” Duke said.  “And Todd’s on the other side.”

Duke floated forward and tried the doorknob, but it didn’t work.

“May I try?” Jennifer asked.  “You know I have a magic touch with doors.”

Duke smiled and let Jennifer have a go at it.  Jennifer turned the doorknob and the door opened.  Duke, Jennifer, and Reinette floated inside and found themselves walking in a desert.

“Now what?” Jennifer asked as she and Duke scanned the area.

_‘Todd!’_ Reinette said and dashed off.

Jennifer and Duke followed Reinette and she led them to a tall dark tower surrounded by roses.

_‘Todd!’_ Reinette said again when she saw Todd lying on his back in a field of rose petals, looking up at the sky, watching the clouds form exotic animals on his whim.  

Todd lifted his head when he heard Reinette and she ran to him as Jennifer and Duke caught up.

_‘Happy!  I found Todd!’_ Reinette said as she rubbed his hands and purred as Todd sat up straighter, looking amazed.

Duke looked like he was about to cry, but he held it in, so Jennifer cried for him and ran up to Todd and hugged him.

“Duke?  Jennifer?  Reinette?” Todd asked once Jennifer let go.  “What happened?  How are you here?  Are you dead?”

“What?” Duke asked as he finally joined the others.  He hugged Todd.  “Do you remember fighting the Void?”

“Yeah, but I felt exhausted afterwards, and I collapsed,” Todd said, stroking Reinette as Jennifer and Duke sat on either side of the boy.  “I woke up floating . . . somewhere . . . and looked around.  I soon saw an opened door and went in.  I was lost in the desert, but then I saw the tower and the roses.  The door was locked.  I don’t know how to survive in the desert, and started to freak out, when a bear appeared and said: ‘The roses grant you permission to use them as nutrients and to drink the dew they collect in the petals.’  I asked the bear how to get inside the tower and the bear said: ‘What you seek is not in the tower; the tower cannot help you find what you seek.’  Then the bear was gone.  Afterwards, various animals came to visit me; one even taught me how to change a cloud’s shape: watch.”

Todd looked at the cloud and it soon formed into a fox.

_‘Wow!  I want to try!’_ Reinette said and looked at a cloud and it formed into a fish.  _‘Yay!  Fish!’_

“After a while, I thought I died . . . and this is some form of the afterlife,” Todd said.

“Todd . .  . this isn’t some form of the afterlife,” Duke said.  “If it was, we’ll  be in some little bar in the tropics where the beer is always ice cold, the surf perfect, the women beautiful and the sea and the sky are so blue they just blend together so perfectly till you can't tell one from another.”

Todd had to laugh before he spoke.  “Then . .  . where are we?”

“We’re . . . somewhere,” Jennifer said.  “But you’re not dead, Todd; neither are we.”

“You’re in a coma, Todd,” Duke said.  “You haven’t been responsive and . .  . we’ll explain how we found you later, but everyone misses you, and we’re here to bring you home.”

“Do you know the way out of here?” Todd asked as they all got up and Duke nodded.

“This is why you didn’t need the tower,” a turtle said, suddenly appearing at their feet.  “The ones you seek found you.”

“Okay . . . let’s get going,” Duke said, leading Jennifer, Todd, and Reinette away from the tower and roses and back to the door.

“You didn’t know it was still here?” Duke asked as they stopped in front of the door.

“I did, but the door didn’t open for me,” Todd said. 

“Well, I’m here now,” Jennifer said, smiling, and opened the door for them.

When they walked through, they found themselves floating in space.

“How do get back home?” Todd asked.

“I know the way,” Duke said and everyone looked at him; Duke shrugged.  “It’s instinct.”

“So . . . Todd . . . I guess you didn’t hear us,” Jennifer said as they floated through space.  Todd shook his head.  “Well . . . we have a lot of stuff to catch you up on, but most importantly, your parents are awake.”

Todd smiled as tears formed in his eyes.

“You’re going to wake up to a changed world, Todd,” Duke said, smiling at him.   “You’re going to love what I can now.”

Duke led the others back to where he, Jennifer, and Reinette first appeared.  He then realized he had no idea how to—

* * *

Duke opened his eyes and found Jennifer lying on a cot, beside him, also waking up, and Paige noticed them.

“Duke,” she said, getting everyone’s attention, as Reinette lifted up her head and shook it.

“What happened?” Nathan asked as Duke and Jennifer got up.

“I’m -- not sure,” Duke said, and noticed Todd shifting in the bed.  Duke and Jennifer went over to Todd’s side and he slowly opened his eyes.  Reinette got up and purred as she rubbed his face.  Todd saw Duke as the others gathered around the bed. 

“Hey,” Todd said.

“Welcome back, kid,” Duke said, smiling.

Everyone greeted Todd; Gloria was the last one who came up to him.  She smiled at Todd, then gently slapped his cheek.

“Why can’t you get a tattoo or steal a car to annoy me than risking your life?” Gloria said, then hugged Todd.

“Jennifer said my parents are awake,” Todd said as he sat up straighter. 

“You can see them as soon as the doctors check you out,” Gloria said. 

“We have a lot to tell you, Todd,” Paige said and smiled.  “I don’t even know where to start.”

* * *

Todd took in a deep breath and collected himself.  He then opened the door and swallowed hard to hold back his tears when he saw his parents sitting up in bed.  Patton and Ida smiled when they saw Todd and he ran to embrace them.  As Todd and his parents babbled questions to each other, Duke and Jennifer entered the room.  Soon, Patton noticed the couple.

“Do I know you?” Patton asked Duke.

“This is Duke Crocker and Jennifer Mason,” Todd explained.  “Duke’s my . . .”

“19th removed cousin,” Duke said and grinned along with Todd; Patton and Ida looked confused.

“Todd . . . a nurse told us that you were under the care of Dr. Verrano,” Ida said.   “Why isn’t she here?”

“Um, she will be soon,” Todd said.

“And why were you staying with her?” Patton asked.  “The nurse wasn’t clear how that happened.”

“Well . . . Dad . . . it’s a pretty unusual explanation . . .” Todd said.

“Have you been keeping up with the news?” Jennifer asked.

“Not that much,” Patton said.

Duke and Jennifer gave Todd encouraging looks.

“You know what to say,” Duke said.

Todd then explained the Troubles and how the Beale and Crocker families are related.  He then told Patton and Ida about his Trouble and what happened when he was in Haven.  When Todd was done talking, Patton and Ida looked at Todd incredulously and Duke noticed.

“Look, before you think we brainwashed your kid, allow us to prove that he’s telling the truth,” Duke said and nodded to Jennifer.

Jennifer walked up to the closet and opened it, showing it was empty to Patton and Ida.  She then closed it, but kept her hand on the doorknob as she closed her eyes and concentrated.  Jennifer simultaneously opened her eyes and the closet door and out walked Gloria carrying a file folder and Reinette.  Patton’s and Ida’s eyes grew wide as Reinette jumped onto a nearby chair and began cleaning herself.

“If you need more proof,” Duke said and gesture his hand at a glass of water near Patton.  The water floated out of the glass and swirled around the room, moving at Duke’s command.  Duke then caused the water to hover in middle of the room and concentrated, and the water formed into an octahedron before it floated back into the glass.  Todd was amazed.

“That’s your Favor, Duke?  You can control water?” Todd asked.

“Yeah, I can also breathe underwater for hours,” Duke said, grinning at the kid.

“Would you like the test results to show they’re related?” Gloria asked, showing Patton and Ida the file folder.

“Yes . . . but we believe you,” Ida said, then looked at Duke.  “So . . . what are you saying?  Do you want Todd . . .”

“Todd is your kid and I’m not going to take him away,” Duke said, looking at Todd.  “He is my family, but you’ve done a great job raising him, and I don’t want to change that.  He loves you, so I’m not going to fight you over custody.  All I ask is take we hang out.”

“Please?” Todd asked.  “Duke said for Summer Vacation we’ll go on a trip on his ship.”

Patton and Ida looked at each over.

“We can work it out,” Patton said and everyone smiled.  Reinette finished cleaning herself and began to sniff Patton.

“Oh . . . and this is my cat . . . Reinette,” Todd said as Reinette climbed onto the bed.  “Reinette, this is my mom and dad.”

_‘Mama!  Papa!’_ Reinette said and began rubbing Patton.

“Did the cat . . .” Ida said.

“Yes, she did,” Gloria answered as Reinette purred.

“Can I keep her?” Todd asked.

“If not, Reinette can live with Gloria or me,” Jennifer suggested.

“I—“ Patton began.

_‘I love Papa,’_ Reinette purred.

“If you can teach her not to do that in public, then yes,” Patton said and stroked Reinette.

Todd smiled and hugged his parents.

* * *

 A few days later, Patton and Ida were discharged from the hospital to attend Todd’s returning home party in a park in Haven.  Besides Duke, Jennifer, Gloria, Vickie, and Aaron attending, Nathan, Paige, James, Dwight, McHugh, Lizzie, Beatrice, and Jean were also there.

In the middle of the party, while Lizzie was busy telling Todd on how to incorporate Lizzie the Lion-Hearted into the stories of Dirk the pirate, Beatrice and Duke pulled Jean aside.

“Hi, Jean,” Duke said.  “My name is Duke Crocker.  I’m . . . your dad.  I know I haven’t been around because . . . something prevented me from being near you . . . that will be explained later . . . when you can understand it.  You probably think your mommy and I are going to live together and be like a family you read in storybooks, but . . . I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen.  I . . . had to move on, Jean, live my own life; I have someone else that I want to get to know better, her name is Jennifer Mason.  This doesn’t mean I don’t love you or your mommy, it just means I won’t be the right dad for you.  I do want to get to know you Jean, and I hope you will let me into your life.  I’ll even help your mommy find the right daddy for you.”

Jean just stood there for a minute, then she walked up to Duke and hugged him.  Duke hugged her back and cried tears of joy.

* * *

_ Night of the Harvest Moon Dance _

Myron Fane opened the door to his apartment to see Todd wearing a grey suit with a red tie.  He held a plastic case.

“Hi, Mr. Fane; is Bridget ready?” Todd asked.

“I think so; come on inside,” Myron said and Todd did so.  “Bridget!  Todd’s here!”

Bridget entered the room wearing a pretty pink and white dress that made Todd blush and smile when he saw her.

“Hi, Todd,” Bridget said, smiling at him.  “You look good.”

“Oh—thanks . . . you do too; this is for you,” Todd said showing Bridget the plastic case which had a corsage inside.  “Would you like me to put it on?”

“Sure,” Bridget said, and placed her arm out and Todd slipped the corsage onto her wrist.  Bridget smiled as she examined the corsage.  “It’s beautiful; thanks, Todd.”

“Okay, you kids have fun now,” Myron said, opening the door for them.

“What?  No embarrassing dad lecture?” Bridget joked, making Myron chuckle.

“I don’t need to because you’re chaperoned,” Myron said as he escorted Todd and Bridget to the front door.

When they got outside, Bridget saw Jennifer and Duke, dressed up, waiting for them, standing next to Duke’s truck.  Jennifer gave Bridget a big smile and wave, while Duke just casually waved at her.  It was Jennifer who volunteered them to chaperon the school dance.  Even though Duke wanted to ‘dance’ with Jennifer in a more . . . private way that night, he had a hard time saying ‘no’ seeing how happy Jennifer and Mrs. Lackey were, so he agreed.

After a few photos, Jennifer opened the door for the kids, and once everyone was seated and safe, Duke drove off as Myron waved to them.

* * *

Duke knew of a good café nearby to stop and get dinner before they got to the school.  The gymnasium of Patrick Danville Middle School was nicely decorated for the Harvest Moon Dance.  Duke promised Todd that he wouldn’t embarrass and shadow him, and he and Jennifer left Todd and Bridget and went over to the other side of the building.  Todd and Jennifer soon saw their friends and they talked and socialized for a while.  Then they soon saw Caesar and his date, a blonde cyber-bully named Julie Morrigan.  As Julie left to get punch, Caesar went up to them.

“I don’t know how you did it, but I’m going to find out how you made the others forget what happened at the Family School Carnival,” Caesar said.

“Just give it up, Caesar; you don’t know what you’re dealing with,” Samiir said.

“I know you’re somehow involved,” Caesar said, indicating Todd.  “You’re one of them, aren’t you?  One of those ‘Troubled?’”

“Of course; it runs in the family,” Todd proudly said and smiled.  “But you’re not getting anything from me.”

“You can’t keep Haven a secret; each day there’s news of something strange.  When it all comes to a head; I’ll be in the front, leading the way,” Caesar said.

“Yeah, over a cliff,” Dominic added and his friends laughed, while Caesar fumed.

Luckily, Julie came back and Caesar decided to lead her away from them.

“Glad that’s over with,” Bridget said and saw that Samiir and Dominic had lead their dates onto the dance floor.  Todd and Bridget looked at each other.

“So . . . do you want to dance?” Todd finally asked.

“Really?  Do you want to?” Bridget asked.

“Yeah; I really would,” Todd said, smiling at her and took Bridget’s hand and they went onto the dance floor and they both started to dance. 

Duke looked over and saw Todd and Bridget dancing, and smiled proudly seeing the results of his dance lessons.

“What are you smiling about?” Jennifer asked, trying to follow Duke’s gaze.

“Oh, I’m just planning to spike the punch,” Duke joked and Jennifer playfully slapped his shoulder for her response.

“Wow, Todd!  That’s great!” Bridget said, amazed seeing the changes in Todd’s dancing.

“Duke taught me,” Todd said, and blushed and smiled as they went over to the side when the song was done.

“Really?  He must be a great teacher,” Bridget said.

“Yeah,” Todd said, smiling as he watched Duke talked Jennifer into dancing with him.  “I’m proud I’m related to him.”

Later on in the night, Bridget asked Todd if he wanted to slow dance and he accepted.  Bridget really was having fun with Todd and enjoyed dancing with him.  She smiled at Todd, then leaned in and kissed him.  After the kiss, Todd blinked, then smiled and gave Bridget a kiss, causing her to softly laugh afterwards.

“I guess this means we’re dating during the summer,” Bridget said after the song and they went over to the side.  She then noticed Todd winced.  “What’s wrong?”

“Duke is taking Jennifer, Reinette, and me on a trip on his ship during Summer Vacation,” Todd said. 

“Wait, your cat is coming on the trip?” Bridget asked.

“My Dad said Reinette is my responsibility and if I’m going to be gone over the summer, then she should come with me,” Todd said.  “I’m sorry, Bridget, I mean I could ask Duke –“

“Todd, I’m okay; I’m cool with it,” Bridget said.

“Really?  You are?”

“I am sad that you’re leaving, but we can talk and write to each other,” Bridget said.  “Besides we’re not serious.”

“Oh, no, we’re not,” Todd said with a small smile, then covered her hand with his.  “But . . . maybe we could try again when I come back when school starts?”

“Well . . . if you promise to not make some mysterious island girl your girlfriend, I think we can,” Bridget said and smiled. 

“I’ll accept that promise if you promise not to go out Caesar over the summer,” Todd said, making Bridget laugh.  “Or an aspiring musician.”

“Deal,” Bridget said and they shook hands and kissed once more.

* * *

_ Summer Vacation _

Ida opened the trunk of the car and sighed.

“Todd, you are not taking your skateboard,” Ida said as Todd gave Jennifer Reinette’s pet carrier.

“Duke said it was okay,” Todd said.

“What if it gets broken, or you lose it, or it gets stolen or—“ Ida said.

“If anything happens, Todd is going to pay for it,” Duke said.  “Depending on where we are, he’ll work and get paid if anything you listed happened.”

“What do you mean ‘depending on where we are’?” Patton asked.

“Well, if something happens in Cuba—“ Duke began.

“You’re taking Todd to Cuba?” Patton incredulously asked.

“What’s wrong with Cuba?” Duke innocently asked.

Todd believed Duke had everything handled so he went to say good-bye to his friends who came along to see him off.

“Please be safe, Todd,” Marianna said.  “I read about indescribable sightings in the news.” 

Todd grinned.  “Duke’s an expert at dealing with unusual situations; we’ll be safe.”

“Don’t forget to take lots of pictures,” Taslima said.

“I won’t.”

“Man, I am so jealous; going out to sea, being on adventures,” Dominic said, making Todd grin.  “Don’t forget about us back here in boring old Delain.”

“I’ll write,” Todd said.  “Duke said the places we’re going don’t receive Wi-Fi signals, so it’s going to be old-fashion pen-and-paper communication.”

“You have to tell us everything,” Samiir said.

“I will,” Todd said and after shaking hands or hugging his friends, he turned to Bridget.  “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“Thanks for . . . asking me to the Harvest Moon Dance; I had a lot fun with you,” Todd said.

“Yeah . . . me too,” Bridget said.

“I hope we have the chance to do something fun again when I come back,” Todd said.

“Well, as long as we keep our promises, I think we can,” Bridget said and they chuckled.  “And don’t lie because I’ll ask Reinette if you’re telling the truth.”

They laughed again and hugged, then Bridget gave Todd a quick kiss on his check.  As Duke was saying good-bye to Jean and Jennifer was talking to Stan, Dwight, McHugh, and Lizzie walked up to Todd.

“Are you going to see merepeople on your vacation?” Lizzie asked, making the men smile.

“Um, maybe,” Todd said, thinking that he could be right.

“If you do, would you bring me a souvenir?” Lizzie politely asked and Todd agreed and hugged her.

“Make sure Duke doesn’t do anything illegal out there if Jennifer’s not watching him,” Dwight said, shaking Todd’s hand, causing the boy to smile.

“Vince wanted to be here, but he said he has business with Croatoan and something about remodeling the armory for Mrs. Lackey . . . or something like that . . . half of what he said went over my head,” McHugh said, making Todd smile.  “Anyway, he asked me to wish you bon voyage.”

“See you when you get back, Todd,” Nathan said, shaking Todd’s hand.  “It’s great to know that not all members of the Crocker family are annoying.”

As Duke glared at Nathan, Paige handed James to Gloria and hugged Todd.

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Todd,” Paige said.  “I hope you visit Haven when your family has a chance.”

Paige then took back James and Gloria went up to Todd and hugged him.

“You’re a Crocker all right; you won my heart, just like Duke,” Gloria said and hugged Todd again.  “I’ll be here if you ever need me.”

Patton and Ida finally agreed Todd could take his skateboard, and they hugged and said their good-byes.  Afterwards, Todd boarded _The Cape Rouge_ and waved to his friends and family as the ship sailed off.

* * *

Duke looked out to see Jennifer walking out onto the deck while Todd was at the bow of the ship and Reinette was sitting next to Todd’s feet.  Duke smiled and asked the waves to direct _The Cape Rouge_ and they obeyed him.  Duke left the wheel and walked over to Todd.

“Ho! For the plains where the dolphins play,  
And the bend of the mast and spars,  
and a fight of the night with the wild sea sprite,  
When the foam has drowned the stars.” Duke said, getting Todd’s attention as he joined the boy.  Todd looked him and smiled.

“And pray, what joy can the landsman feel  
Like the rise and fall of a sliding keel?” Todd said.  “Paul Lawrence Duncan, right?”

Duke proudly nodded and smiled at Todd as he placed his hand on Todd’s shoulder.

_‘I love you, Duke,’_ Todd said in Duke’s mind.  Duke was shocked but amused.

_‘Todd?’_ Duke asked with his mind.

_‘It’s my Favor!  I wanted to surprise you!’_ Todd said as Jennifer joined them.  _‘I can connect minds telepathically!’_

_‘Does Jennifer know?’_ Duke asked.

_‘Yes, she does,’_ Jennifer said, wrapping her arms around Duke.  _‘I suggested to Todd to surprise you.’_

Duke just grinned at Jennifer and kissed her, then messed with Todd’s hair.

_‘Love you too, kid,’_ Duke said, smiling at Todd.

Duke then looked out into the horizon with his family, the people who he loved and loved him back, ready to explore a changed world. 


End file.
